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By Daniel Strauss and Elena Schneider | 04/14/2017 10:00 AM EDT


With Kevin Robillard, Scott Bland, and Bianca Padró Ocasio

The following newsletter is an abridged version of Campaign Pro's Morning Score. For an earlier morning read on exponentially more races - and for a more comprehensive aggregation of the day's most important campaign news - sign up for Campaign Pro today. (http://www.politicopro.com/proinfo)

FIRST IN SCORE - DSCC raises $6.5M in March: Senate Democrats' campaign committee hauled in nearly $6.5 million and has over $12.5 million on hand, just behind their Republican counterparts. The NRSC raised an off-year record $7 million and has $13 million on hand. "Senate Democrats are the last line of defense against the reckless and self-interested Republican agenda, and we are grateful for the wave of grassroots support we are receiving," DSCC Executive Director Mindy Myers said.

GA-06 UPDATE - "Georgia Republicans clash in first Trump-era primary," by Campaign Pro's Elena Schneider: "Donald Trump changed the Republican Party in 2016. But the GOP candidates trying to follow him to Washington are still figuring out how to react. In interviews with a dozen operatives and candidates in Georgia, the site of a closely watched House special election next week, an emerging definition of the Trump Republican includes tags like 'outsider,' 'problem-solver' and 'real-world experience.' ... But most professional Republicans said they're perplexed about how to translate President Trump's 2016 victories and his current popularity among the GOP base into primaries. Certainly, no
one in the tightly bunched Republican field has cracked a code and sprinted ahead of the pack. And while Gray and former state Sen. Dan Moody both said they would 'absolutely' identify as Trump Republicans, in a district Trump carried by less than 2 points, former Secretary of State Karen Handel and former state Sen. Judson Hill were more cautious. ... 'We are in no-man's land because there is no historical precedent to make any type of logical prediction on what's going to work for Republican primary voters right now,' said Chip Lake, a Republican consultant in the state. 'What does it mean to be a Trump Republican? It's changed every week of this presidency.'" Full story.

- Ad spending in GA-06 has hit $14 million, per the Atlanta Journal Constitution. $5.3 million has come from Democrat Jon Ossoff, while nearly $4 million from the NRCC and Congressional Leadership Fund has attacked the Democrat. Full story.

- House Speaker Paul Ryan "taped a get-out-the-vote robocall set to reach Republican voters in Georgia's 6th Congressional District," the Washington Post reported.

OPEN SEAT WATCH - "DGA chairman Malloy won't seek third term in Connecticut," by Campaign Pro's Kevin Robillard: "Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy, a Democrat who has struggled with low approval ratings throughout his two terms in office, won't run for reelection in 2018, a Democratic source confirms. The Hartford Courant first reported the decision. ... One Democrat, Middletown Mayor Dan Drew, has already announced a gubernatorial bid. State Sen. Ted Kennedy, Jr., the son of the former Massachusetts senator, is also considering a run. Comptroller Kevin Lembo is another potential candidate. Republicans will look to capitalize on Malloy's low approval rating, which has hovered below 30 percent,
to seize the governorship. Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti and state Rep. Prasad Srinivasan have already announced bids, while former U.S. Comptroller General David Walker, attorney Peter Lumaj and businessman Steve Obsitnik are also looking at running." Full story.

CAUGHT ON TAPE - "Heller audio: I want to 'get to a yes' on Obamacare repeal," by Campaign Pro's Kevin Robillard: "Nevada Sen. Dean Heller told a group of conservatives earlier this week he "will do everything I can to get to a yes" on repealing Obamacare and suggested he was withholding his approval of the GOP health care plan in Congress to get attention from the White House. The comments were picked up by a tracker for the Nevada Democratic Party, who paid to enter the event at the Keystone Corporation, an organization of conservative Nevada business leaders. The group barred media members from the event and kicked out several protesters who paid to attend." Full story.

Days until the 2017 election: 207.

Days until the 2018 election: 571.

Thanks for joining us. Your Morning Score author is reading this Charleston Gazette-Mail story that reports West Virginia Democratic Gov. Jim Justice has been pressuring top brass at Marshall University to replace current football coach Doc Holliday (yes,that's what people call him) with former coach Bobby Pruett, who appeared in campaign ads for Justice in 2016.

You can email tips to the Campaign Pro team at sbland@politico.com, eschneider@politico.com, krobillard@politico.com and dstrauss@politico.com.

You can also follow us on Twitter: @politicoscott, @ec_schneider, @politicokevin and @danielstrauss4.

ACROSS THE POTOMAC - "How Donald Trump blew up the Virginia governor's race," by POLITICO Magazine's Kevin Robillard: "...Northam, 57, has locked up the endorsement of nearly every politician who matters in Virginia, starting with McAuliffe, who sports an approval rating above 50 percent and in the 80s among Democrats. Both of Virginia's Democratic senators, former vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, have backed Northam. As has every Democrat in the state legislature and every Democratic congressman save Connolly, who is remaining neutral. In a normal election year, that would add up to a free pass to the general election in November. But this isn't a normal year. The
Virginia governor's race, which by a quirk of the election calendar is the first big contest after the presidential vote, has historically been seen as a referendum on the new occupant of the White House. And that occupant is Donald Trump, which explains the presence at Connolly's party of another candidate, Representative Tom Perriello." Full story.

- DEBATE NIGHT - "Republican front-runner Ed Gillespie's signature proposal to cut taxes took fire from all sides Thursday as the three GOP candidates for governor squared off at Liberty University for the first televised debate of Virginia's primary season," the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports.

WARREN'S 2016 THINKING REVEALED - "Elizabeth Warren Describes Why She Didn't Run for White House in New Book," by The Wall Street Journal's Byron Tau: "Sen. Elizabeth Warren opted not to run for president in 2016 in part because her husband warned her the race would be far more grueling than her 2012 Senate bid, she writes in a book scheduled for release Tuesday ... Ms. Warren, 67 years old, recounts her husband was supportive of her but added that "a race like this one looks pretty terrible. The Senate thing was bad enough, and running for president would be worse - a lot worse.'" Full story.

Q1 FUNDRAISING - FIRST IN SCORE - West Virginia Rep. Evan Jenkins raised $367,726 in the first quarter and has $1,035,718 cash on hand ahead of a possible Senate run against Democratic incumbent Joe Manchin.

- Missouri: Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill raised $2.8 million in the first quarter, the St. Louis Post Dispatch reports.

- Montana: Democratic Sen. Jon Tester raised $2 million in the first three months of 2017 - the first quarter of a campaign in which he is a top target of national Republicans, via POLITICO.

- Virginia: Former Rep. Tom Perriello raised $2.2 million, a larger haul than rival Democratic candidate Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam's $1.5 million and Republican Ed Gillespie's $1.8 million.

- Michigan: Rep. Dan Kildee raised $205,000 and has $675,000 cash on hand. Kildee could transfer the cash to a state campaign if he pulls the trigger on a run for governor.

- FIRST IN SCORE - CA-52: Democratic Rep. Scott Peters raised $402,000 in the first quarter, ending with just under $1.4 million in cash on hand, per a statement from his campaign.

- GOP Rep. Claudia Tenney raised $275,000 and has $310,000 on hand after Q1, per the Syracuse Post-Standard.

CANDIDATE WATCH - "Democrat Paul Davis begins bid for Congress, not governor," by The Wichita Eagle: "Democrat Paul Davis has decided to explore a bid for Congress instead of running again for governor, leaving former Wichita mayor Carl Brewer as the sole Democratic gubernatorial candidate for now. ... [H]e is considering a run in Kansas' 2nd Congressional District in northeast Kansas ... Republican Lynn Jenkins holds the seat but has said she will not seek re-election. 'As I've looked at where I can make a difference and where my passion lies, I've come to the conclusion that what's going on in Washington, D.C. - I think we need good people in Congress who are going to be problem solvers,
can unite Democrats and Republicans, who are going to be working for their constituents and not the special interests in Washington,' said Davis, an attorney who lives in Lawrence." Full story

- "Ivey: Too soon to say if she'll run in 2018," by Mary Sell of the Times Daily of Florence, Alabama: "Gov. Kay Ivey said this morning it's too soon to say if she'll try to keep the office in 2018. 'If I were in your shoes, I'd probably ask that same question,' Ivey told The Decatur Daily when asked this morning. 'But right now, my priorities are to steady the ship of state and improve our image...That question has merit and opportunity, but I have a little time to evaluate that one. Right now, we're focused on the immediate priorities.'" Full story

ADMINISTRATION SPEED READ - "Trump's base turns on him," by POLITICO's Alex Isenstadt and Madeline Conway: "Donald Trump's true believers are losing the faith. As Trump struggles to keep his campaign promises and flirts with political moderation, his most steadfast supporters - from veteran advisers to anti-immigration activists to the volunteers who dropped their jobs to help elect him - are increasingly dismayed by the direction of his presidency. Their complaints range from Trump's embrace of an interventionist foreign policy to his less hawkish tone on China to, most recently, his marginalization of his nationalist chief strategist, Steve Bannon. But the crux of their disillusionment,
interviews with nearly two dozen Trump loyalists reveal, is a belief that Trump the candidate bears little resemblance to Trump the president. He's failing, in their view, to deliver on his promise of a transformative 'America First' agenda driven by hard-edged populism." Full story.

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "He was the governor of the state of Alabama and we're proud that one of our citizens was governor" - Columbiana Mayor Stancil Handley, explaining why signs highlighting that Shelby County is the home of now former Gov. Robert Bentley won't be taken down, according to AL.com.

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