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By Elena Schneider | 04/06/2017 10:00 AM EDT


With Bianca Padró Ocasio, Kevin Robillard and Daniel Strauss

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)

YOU'RE READING THIS RIGHT - Ossoff raises massive $8.3M for Georgia special: "Democrat Jon Ossoff raised over $8.3 million for the upcoming House special election in Georgia, per a statement from his campaign, an enormous sum that has shaken the race to replace Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price in Congress. Ossoff's pre-special election haul adds up to more donor money than any House candidate has raised in an entire two-year cycle since 2012, except Speakers John Boehner and Paul Ryan. Ossoff's campaign ended the period with $2.1 million in cash on hand, meaning that the campaign has spent just under $6.2 million already. The average contribution was $42.52 from nearly 200,000
individual donors. ...Ossoff's total far outstripped Republican fundraising, as former Secretary of State Karen Handel raised $463,000 during the same period. State Sen. Judson Hill raised $470,000, ending with $110,000 in cash on hand, per an FEC filing. Republican groups are spending approximately $4.2 million to beat back Ossoff in the conservative-leaning 6th District." Full story.

- NEW THIS MORNING - Moody drops new TV ad in Georgia special: State Sen. Dan Moody released a new TV ad that highlights his similarities to President Trump. "President Trump wants term limits. I agree. I term-limited myself," Moody says, directly addressing the camera throughout the ad. "He wants to cut the size of government, reduce taxes -- I've done both." The ad continues: "Protect our borders, replace Obamacare, protect America's families -- he has great ideas, if the hard work gets done," Moody says. "Well, I love hard work. It's how I created great Georgia jobs in my own business. It's what I do." The ad, which starts today, will air on broadcast and cable stations across the
district.

- Al-Jazeera attacks on Ossoff ramp up: The Congressional Leadership Fund is out with a new web video that says Al-Jazeera, a "mouthpiece for terrorists," has "been paying Jon Ossoff thousands of dollars." But Ossoff "refuses to tell voters exactly how much money he's received." It also attacks Ossoff for "refus[ing] to tell voters the truth about his experience." The video concludes: "What is he hiding? How can we trust him?" Watch the video here. The Georgia Republican Party is doubling down on the messaging with a mailer that a voter tweeted Wednesday, which says "Ossoff gets paid by Al-Jazeera." The tagline says: "One you've worked for them," under Al-Jazeera's symbol. "You can't work
for us." Check out the mailer here.

- GOP internal poll again shows Ossoff at 43, with Republicans scrapping for second: A new internal poll for former GOP state Sen. Dan Moody, conducted by the firm Meeting Street Research, found Ossoff at 43 percent, followed by both former Secretary of State Karen Handel and former state Sen. Dan Moody tied at 12 percent. A third Republican, state Sen. Judson Hill, was just 2 points back at 10 percent, while fourteen other candidates don't break double digits. Another 9 percent of voters are still undecided on the race. Meeting Street Research surveyed 400 likely special election voters on April 4, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points. Read the full polling memo
here.

- SPECIAL IE FLAG - The NRCC spent $25,000 on digital advertising in the upcoming KS-04 special election - a dark-red district left open by CIA Director Mike Pompeo and not expected to be competitive.

CONSULTANT TURNS CANDIDATE - "Pence adviser Nick Ayers eyes run for Georgia governor," by POLITICO's Shane Goldmacher: "One of Vice President Mike Pence's top political advisers, Nick Ayers, is considering running for governor of Georgia next year, according to two people familiar with the matter. Ayers is 34 but already a veteran Republican strategist who burst onto the political scene a decade ago as the wunderkind executive director of the Republican Governors Association. In 2016, he served as a senior adviser to Pence after Donald Trump tapped him as his running mate, and Ayers served on the executive committee of Trump's presidential transition team. He has not previously run for
office. While it is not clear yet whether Ayers will jump into the contest, people close to the White House are already discussing what impact an Ayers run would have on the pro-Trump nonprofit group America First Policies, where he has worked as an adviser and fundraiser since January." Full story.

Days until the 2017 election: 215.

Days until the 2018 election: 579.

Thanks for joining us. 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.

Q1 FUNDRAISING - Indiana Rep. Luke Messer brought in $700,000 in the first quarter as he prepares for a challenge to Indiana Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly, his campaign said today. The haul gives Messer, who is likely to face a primary against Rep. Todd Rokita, $1.6 million cash on hand. He had just over $1 million on hand at the end of 2016. More here.

- Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) raised over $2.2 million, ending the period with $2.4 million on hand, campaign manager Scott Spector said Wednesday. Baldwin had nearly $1.1 million on hand at the start of the quarter, meaning she spent approximately $900,000 in the last three months. More here.

- Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum raised $765,000 for his gubernatorial race, boosted by "big-name liberals George Soros, Norman Lear and Jane Fonda supplying some major early money," The Palm Beach Post reported. Meanwhile, fellow Democrat Chris King raised more than $500,000 from contributors and put $1 million of his own money, per The Post.

- Democratic Rep. Josh Gottheimer raised $751,500. More here from POLITICO New Jersey's Matt Friedman on the NJ-05 freshman. That's more than any freshman had previously raised in their first quarter in Congress; we'll see in a couple weeks whether anyone surpassed Gottheimer.

- FL-13 Democratic Rep. Charlie Crist raised $717,000, via Florida Playbook. Crist's team touted the first-quarter haul as a freshman record a few hours before Gottheimer released his own numbers. Oops!

- An exploratory committee for Democrat Antonio Delgado in NY-19 raised $300,000, as Delgado eyes a challenge to Republican Rep. John Faso, according to a statement.

VIRGINIA WATCH - Corey Stewart attacks Gillespie in digital ads: In a new digital spot, Trump-style Republican Corey Stewart attacks GOP frontrunner Ed Gillespie for supporting "Obama-style insurance mandates in his own book." "Why is Ed Gillespie acting like a Democrat?," the ad asks. Watch the ad here.

- ALSO - Virginia First Lady Dorothy McAuliffe is among a slew of Democrats considering a run against Republican Rep. Barbara Comstock, The Washington Post reports.

CANDIDATE TO WATCH - Brauchler enters Colorado governor's race: Republican George Brauchler, the district attorney who prosecuted the Aurora theater shooter and was heavily courted to run against Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet in 2016, has formally entered the open governor's race to replace Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper, who's term-limited. Brauchler released a 4-minute biographical video that sketches out his resume and says he's running "for a better Colorado for all Coloradans."

NOTES FOR FUTURE DEMOCRATS - "What Will Democratic Campaigns Look Like In 2020? Hopefully, different than they look today," by Bully Pulpit Interactive's Andrew Bleeker in The Huffington Post: "Below are three places to start that don't require a huge war chest, but without which we cannot succeed. ...Cultivate Great Talent - And Keep It. ...Revise Political Campaign Structures. ...Better Allocation Of Resources." Full story.

TRANSITIONS - Revolvis Consulting adds John Weber: Weber, who recently served as the field finance director at the NRCC in 2016, joined Revolvis Consulting as vice president and director of the Washington, D.C. office on Wednesday, per a statement from the group. In 2014, Weber ran GOP Rep. Mike Bost's race in Illinois.

INTERNAL POLL - "This Poll Has Good News for Senate Democrats," by Bloomberg View's Al Hunt: "The poll, conducted by Garin-Hart-Yang Research Group for the Senate Majority Political Action Committee, which supports Democratic Senate candidates, surveyed voters in the 10 states that Trump carried last year where Democratic incumbents face re-election in 2018. In those states, which Trump won by an average of 14 percentage points, a generic Democrat runs 10 points ahead of a Republican, according to the pollster, Geoff Garin. On the so-called 'feeling thermometer' measuring general favorability, Democrats also run almost 10 points ahead of Trump in these states." Full story.

ADMINISTRATION SPEED READ - "Trump team already strategizing for the next Supreme Court vacancy," by POLITICO's Shane Goldmacher: "...While the White House is focused this week on shepherding Trump's first Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch, through the Senate confirmation process, the president and his team are obsessed with the next possible vacancy. The likeliest candidate is Kennedy, who has sat at the decisive fulcrum of the most important Supreme Court cases for more than a decade. Replacing him with a reliable conservative would tip the court to the right, even if no other seat comes open under Trump - whose team has taken to exploring every imaginable line of communication to keep
tabs on the justice and to make him comfortable as he ponders a potential retirement. One backchannel is the fact that Kennedy's son, Justin, knows Donald Trump, Jr. through New York real estate circles. Another is through Kennedy's other son, Gregory, and Trump's Silicon Valley adviser Peter Thiel." Full story.

- "Trump's View of Syria and Assad Altered After 'Unacceptable' Chemical Attack," by The New York Times' Mark Landler, David E. Sanger and Michael D. Shear: "President Trump warned on Wednesday that he would not tolerate the 'heinous' chemical weapons attack in Syria, opening the door to a greater American role in protecting the population in a vicious civil war that he has always said the United States should avoid. The president declined to offer any details about potential action. But he said his horror at the images of 'innocent children, innocent babies' choked by poison gas in a rebel-held area of Syria had caused him to reassess his approach. Only days after the White House declared
it would be 'silly' to persist in trying to oust President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, Mr. Trump said, 'My attitude toward Syria and Assad has changed very much.'" Full story.

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "He should run in 2020, yes." -- Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said of Ohio Gov. John Kasich, encouraging him to challenge Trump, The Los Angeles Times reported.

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