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By Kevin Robillard | 04/10/2017 10:00 AM EDT


With Scott Bland and Elena Schneider

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)

WHAT'S THE MATTER WI - SORRY, COULDN'T HELP IT - Republicans push emergency button for Kansas special: Here are the steps a skittish Republican Party is taking ahead of Tuesday's special election in KS-04, a district that President Donald Trump carried by 27 points in 2016 (and happens to include the headquarters of Koch Industries): The NRCC is airing late attack ads hitting Democrat James Thompson, an attorney. Vice President Mike Pence has recorded a robocall for GOP state Treasuruer Ron Estes' campaign. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is heading to the Wichita-based district to headline a get-out-the-vote rally on Monday. And lastly, Congressional Leadership Fund (the GOP super PAC aligned with
House leadership) is spending $50,000 on live calls to Republican voters, attacking Thompson and reminding them to back Estes. (Meanwhile, a late Daily Kos endorsement had raised over $180,000 for Thompson by Sunday night.)

- This is as solid a Republican district as you can find around the country - but only when Republican voters show up at the polls, which each of the rally, ads and phone calls is designed to spur. Tuesday's results could end up being an unexpected measure of an enthusiasm gap between the two parties' rank and file members at the moment.

PERLMUTTER ANNOUNCES GOVERNOR BID IN COLORADO - Rep. Ed Perlmutter is joining an already crowded Democratic primary for governor, announcing a bid to follow Gov. John Hickenlooper into office. He pitched himself as able to deal with the challenges of a growing state: "We've seen our roads start to deteriorate, our kid's classrooms become more crowded, our housing market become less affordable, and many jobs remain out of reach," he said outside a Natural Grocers store in Golden, according to prepared remarks. The Denver Post has more.

- Next one in? Cary Kennedy: On the heels of Perlmutter's gubernatorial announcement over the weekend, former Colorado Treasurer and Deputy Mayor of Denver Cary Kennedy is now joining the Democratic primary. She will be announcing her candidacy on Facebook Live at 11:30 MST today.

- Perlmutter's move leaves CO-07 open. Campaign Pro's Elena Schneider has the scoop on the race to replace him: "Perlmutter's decision [is] kicking off a Democratic battle to succeed him and sparking Republican hopes of challenging for the seat in November. For Democrats, the primary's already started. State Rep. Brittany Pettersen launched a campaign for Perlmutter's 7th District on Sunday, soon after Perlmutter's gubernatorial announcement, and State Sen. Andy Kerr confirmed to Campaign Pro that he will seek the seat as well. ... Republicans believe a talented candidate could make a hard run at the seat." Full story.

SPECIAL ELECTION WATCH, GEORGIA EDITION - CLF out with a new radio ad in GA-06: Congressional Leadership Fund, the House leadership-aligned super PAC, is releasing a new round of radio ads that will start airing Monday and continue through Election Day and feature state Rep. Betty Price, wife of HHS Secretary Tom Price. The ad urges Republican voters to turn out, with Price telling voters that it is "so important we elect a conservative" to continue her husband's legacy. "Nancy Pelosi and her out-of-state, out-of-touch liberal cronies will go to any extreme to win our congressional seat in order to advance her liberal agenda," Price says in the ad. Listen to the radio ad here.

- MoveOn.org kicks off TV, digital ads focused on GOP health care bill: The liberal group is launching a six-figure ad buy boosting Democrat Jon Ossoff, who "will work to improve access to health care, not deny it," the ad says. The ad attacks the GOP health care bill which failed to move through the House. "On April 18, let's send a message to Donald Trump," the 30-second ad concludes. Another ad criticizes the GOP health care plan, saying it would mean "nothing...for many of us." Watch "Responsible" here and "The Void" here.

- "As Georgia Vote Nears, G.O.P. Asks if Ideological Purity Matters Anymore," by the New York Times' Jonathan Martin: "Even as they try to win over the sort of conservative activists dedicated enough to participate in a rare April election, the Republicans are casting themselves more as can-do pragmatists in the spirit of Mr. Trump than unwavering ideologues. At the forum and in individual interviews afterward, three of the Republicans in the 18-person field invoked some variation of Ronald Reagan's maxim that it is better to get 80 percent of what you want than nothing at all. Few embraced the Tea Party moniker. And none of the highest-polling candidates pledged to join the Freedom
Caucus." Full story.

SPECIAL ELECTION WATCH, MONTANA EDITION - "Bernie Sanders Says He's Willing To Campaign For Montana Populist Rob Quist," by the Huffington Post's Ryan Grim: "Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has offered to travel to Montana to help boost insurgent House candidate Rob Quist, who is running in a surprisingly competitive special election for the at-large seat previously held by Ryan Zinke, who is now secretary of the department of interior. The stop would be part of a national tour Sanders is doing with Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez after Easter, the Vermont senator told The Huffington Post in an interview." Full story.

Days until the 2017 election: 211.

Days until the 2018 election: 575.

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.

THE GLOBAL POLITICO: TRUMP'S MEDIA WAR: After President Trump called her "Hillary Clinton's P.R. Person," NBC's Andrea Mitchell has some choice words for him too. In an exclusive interview for The Global Politico, Mitchell says "I've never seen anything like" the flat-out lies of the Trump White House, with the briefing room being used to "mislead or misdirect or obfuscate." Listen and subscribe on iTunes | Soundcloud | Stitcher

FIRST IN SCORE - Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey brought in $2.7 million in the first quarter, finishing the quarter with $3.8 million in cash on hand, per a statement from his campaign. The campaign also touted its small-dollar donors, with 94 percent of donors giving $100 or less.

- ... and draws another challenger from the state House: "State Rep. Jim Christiana, 33, of Beaver, said in a news release that he is running on 'a record of enhancing government transparency and taxpayer accountability; ensuring government lives within its means; and working to fix a broken education system that continues to shortchange our children,'" the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Jill Daly wrote. Full story.

- MORE Q1 FUNDRAISING - Kaine raises $2.9M in first quarter: "That's the biggest one-quarter haul Kaine has gathered in a year when he's not on the ballot, according to his finance director, Jenny Nadicksbernd. The donations give Kaine a total of $5.5 million going into his 2018 race for re-election, according to Nadicksbernd," the Washington Post's Jenna Portnoy reports. Full story.

VIRGINIA PRIMARIES - Two month warning: Virginia's gubernatorial primaries on June 13 are fast approaching. Campaign Pro recently sat down with Democratic rivals Ralph Northam and Tom Perriello to prepare for their battle for the party nomination. Perriello's Q&A runs this morning, and our conversation with Northam will run on Tuesday.

- PERRIELLO - "You could look at this race as the Virginia establishment backing Northam, and the D.C. establishment backing you. Do you think you're running against the establishment in this race? I wouldn't accept that frame of the race. What we have tapped into so far is a lot of the progressive energy out there that is not necessarily centered inside the Democratic Party ... a lot of energy from parts of the state that haven't felt as much attention from the Democratic Party. ... From the second you got in the race, you've been compared to Bernie Sanders. And you've consistently rejected that. Are you tired of being compared to Bernie? We all aspire to take the greatest hits from each
of the generation that came before us. If I could match Bernie's authentic capacity to tap into the frustration of people that think a corrupt system has left the American dream behind, I happen to agree with that. If I could have Hillary Clinton's management ability and command of the next generation of big policy ideas, I would love to live up to that." Full story.

- Perriello, Northam announce debate schedule: The candidates have agreed to five debates, along with three other joint appearances. The first debate will be on April 29 in Fairfax, followed by a May 4 debate in Roanoke, "The People's DEbate" in Richmond on May 9, a May 16 debate in Hampton Roads and a May 22 debate in Loudoun County. There will also be a Democratic Party of Virginia Rural Caucus forum in Bristol, a May 2 forum in Arlington sponsored by Our Revolution and May 13 forum sponsored by the University of Virginia's College Democrats.

SUPREME FALLOUT - SLF digital ads attack McCaskill: Senate Leadership Fund is out with digital ads attacking Missouri Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill for her vote against the Supreme Court nomination of Neil Gorsuch, who is set to become a Supreme Court Justice this week. The ad, targeted at voters who backed President Donald Trump, says McCaskill "is doing the bidding of the senator from New York." "Liberal Claire McCaskill played politics with her vote," the female narrator says. "She doesn't deserve yours." Watch the ad here.

TRANSITIONS - OnMessage hires Brian Lyle: GOP consulting firm OnMessage has hired Brian Lyle, previously the chief marketing officer at American Action Network and Congressional Leadership Fund, to be the firm's Vice President of Digital Strategy. "During his career, Brian has raised millions of dollars online for clients, and built national grassroots databases to help clients educate supporters and activists," the firm wrote in a release. "He has developed and designed hundreds of advocacy and campaign websites."

ADMINISTRATION SPEED READ - "Trump's threat to the 2020 Census," by POLITICO Agenda's Danny Vinik: "Last week marked three years until Census Day: April 1, 2020. ... Already, Congress' inability to agree on a full-year funding measure for fiscal 2017 has forced the Census Bureau to cancel multiple field tests and delay opening three field offices. It also had to cut back on new, less labor-intensive methods for verifying household addresses, a critical undertaking that was supposed to make the 2020 Census more cost-effective and accurate. And more broadly, the Trump administration's hardline rhetoric and executive orders cracking down on undocumented immigrants may already be creating a
major new risk for the census, making members of minority and immigrant communities less likely to respond." Full story.

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Here's what I think Assad's telling Trump by flying from this base: 'F you.' And I think he's making a serious mistake," South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "Because if you're an adversary of the United States and you don't worry about what Trump may do on any given day, then you're crazy."

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