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By Elena Schneider | 03/30/2017 10:00 AM EDT


With Kevin Robillard 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 - "EMILY's List investing more in local races," by Campaign Pro's Kevin Robillard: "EMILY's List plans on ramping up its investment on state and local races, doubling the budget and tripling the staff dedicated to electing candidates for city councils, county commissions, mayor's offices and state legislative seats. The group, which is well-known for spending millions to get pro-choice Democratic women elected to Senate, Congress and governor's seats, has increased its staff focused on training and recruiting local women from 5 to 14 and plans to double its budget for local races over the next two years to at least $6 million, not including what it might spend on independent
expenditures like mail or digital advertising." Full story.

2018 WATCH - "Democrat O'Rourke to take on Cruz for Senate in 2018," by POLITICO's Burgess Everett, Heather Caygle and Elena Schneider: "Democratic Rep. Beto O'Rourke is expected to announce Friday he will challenge Texas Sen. Ted Cruz for Senate next year, a person familiar with the decision confirmed. O'Rourke, if he declares, would be the first Democrat to announce his intention to challenge Cruz. Rep. Joaquin Castro is also reportedly considering a Senate run." Full story.

- Hatch would reconsider Senate run if Romney got in: "Sen. Orrin Hatch said he would consider ending what would be a 42-year Senate career in 2018 if he 'could get a really outstanding person to run,' calling Mitt Romney 'perfect' for the position," the Deseret News reported.

- Eric Brakey considers challenge to Sen. Angus King in 2018: "State Sen. Eric Brakey has taken the first formal step toward a campaign to try to unseat U.S. Sen. Angus King in 2018. Brakey said Wednesday he has formed an exploratory committee that will allow him to raise enough money to pay for expenses related to a possible campaign against the first-term Maine independent. Brakey, an Auburn Republican with strong libertarian leanings, said King 'has really wasted his time in Washington, D.C.,' and aligned himself almost totally with the Democrats," the Maine Sun Journal reported.

- "Maine Democrat Adam Cote hints at potential governor run," via Campaign Pro's Daniel Strauss: "Maine Democrat Adam Cote hasn't decided whether he's running for governor, but he's signaling that he's leaning toward jumping into the race to replace term-limited Gov. Paul LePage. Cote, in an interview with Campaign Pro [on Wednesday], confirmed that he's had conversations with the Democratic Governors Association as he mulls a bid. But Cote stressed that he hadn't yet made up his mind on whether he will run and declined to offer a timeline on when he would have a decision." Full story.

ON THE HILL - "Freedom Caucus reckons with wrath of Trump," by POLITICO's Rachael Bade: "The Freedom Caucus is in soul searching mode. After scuttling the Republican plan to repeal and replace Obamacare, the group of hard-liners has been attacked on Twitter by President Donald Trump and trashed privately by much of the House Republican Conference. One member quit in frustration over the caucus' hardball negotiating tactics, and a second may follow him out the door. The heat has left some of the remaining members of the group questioning whether the Freedom Caucus did the right thing in delivering an embarrassing rebuke to their new Republican president. Some hope that Speaker Paul Ryan's
move this week to reopen negotiations on health care will give them another chance to get to 'yes' - and save them from being faulted for the collapse of the GOP's campaign to end Obamacare." Full story.

Days until the 2017 election: 222.

Days until the 2018 election: 586.

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.

AIR WAR - Karen Handel pops TV ad: Former Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel, who's faced a barrage of attack ads from Club for Growth in the special to replace fomer Rep. Tom Price, released a TV ad of her own on Wednesday, calling her opponents "politicians who talk a big game and never deliver." Handel, addressing the camera, says: "We've seen swamps, animals, shovels and scare tactics," referring to her opponents' ads. "Enough with the empty promises and gimmicks." Watch the ad here.

ON THE ISSUES - "Democrats want to make GOP pay for attacking internet rules," by POLITICO's Alex Byers: "Republicans are escalating their fight over the future of the internet, triggering a battle that Democrats plan to take into the 2018 election. Congressional Republicans drew blood this week by voting to repeal the FCC's Obama-era broadband privacy rules. The GOP's next target is likely to be the Obama administration's top technology legacy: net neutrality rules that essentially require internet providers to treat all Web traffic equally, a policy championed by Silicon Valley." Full story.

HOT DOC - "Analytics shows HFC saved GOP on Health Care," by WPA Research's Chris Wilson: "[D]ata from three WPA national predictive models on 1) Speaker Ryan's AHCA, 2) Obamacare, and 3) a plan to fully repeal Obamacare and replace it with market-based solutions show that the Freedom Caucus members were, in fact, doing the will of their constituents in helping defeat the AHCA. Moreover, the data show overwhelming support for full repeal and replace and suggest that the House Freedom Caucus did the Senate, and Republicans' hopes of expanding their Senate majority, a great service in stopping the bill before it made it across the Capitol. ... In each of the Senate's potentially competitive
races in 2018, the AHCA was opposed by majorities." Read more here.

- "Hunter: 'I was not involved in any criminal action,'" by POLITICO's John Bresnahan and Kyle Cheney: "California GOP Rep. Duncan Hunter - under criminal investigation by the Justice Department over alleged campaign violations - insists he did nothing wrong. Hunter won't say who is responsible for tens of thousands of dollars in campaign charges for personal expenses, but he says it wasn't him and he's broken no laws." Full story.

CASH RACE - End Citizens United bundles half-million for Ossoff: End Citizens United has raised $500,000 for Democrat Jon Ossoff, who's running to replace Price. The average contribution was $11, per a statement from the group.

- Gianforte, Quist release fundraising totals: "Republican Greg Gianforte's campaign said it raised $1.5 million in the first weeks of the Montana At-Large special election - doubling Democrat Rob Quist, who brought in $750,000 during the same period." Full story.

- Gianforte's campaign said the Montana businessman has not donated to his own campaign.

VIRGINIA DISPATCHES - "Tom Perriello Is Not Bernie Sanders," by FiveThirtyEight's Clare Malone: "Perriello is running for governor of Virginia. And what in the close shot looked like an intimate conversation was - once you switched to the wide lens - a typical campaign melee: A photographer scurried ahead to get his shot of the empathetic nods while aides walked just behind, necks drooping toward phones. ... Events like this are crucial for Perriello because relatively few people in Virginia actually know his name. ... But then Donald Trump happened and so did Perriello, whose populist economic views put him on progressives' map during his short stint in Congress. 'People really started to
reach out on election night,' he told me." Full story.

- "Stewart misstatements on Confederate issues turn into headache for Gillespie," by The Washington Post: "A spokesman for Ed Gillespie, the front-runner in this year's GOP primary for Virginia governor, says a new attack ad launched by a rival's campaign is deceptive and a sign of desperation. Corey Stewart, the chairman of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors who is battling Gillespie for the nomination, began airing the statewide radio ad and YouTube video on Wednesday that incorrectly says Gillespie told The Washington Post he is opposed to any state legislation that would bar local communities from removing Confederate monuments." Full story.

EARLY POLLING DATA - Gillespie ties both Democrats in Virginia governor's race: The second part of Christopher Newport University's poll of the Virginia governor's race finds Gillespie essentially tied with both Democratic Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam and Perriello. He and Perriello each earn 39 percent of the vote, while Gillespie earns 40 percent to Northam's 39 percent. Both Democrats have solid leads over Stewart, with Northam leading him 41 percent to 33 percent and Perriello leading him 40 percent to 34 percent. Full results here.

TRANSITIONS - Cornerstone Government Affairs hires Paul, Centers: Cornerstone Government Affairs is opening an office in Des Moines and has hired Matt Paul, a former aide to Tim Kaine, Tom Vilsack and Tom Harkin; and Jimmy Centers, a former communications director for GOP Gov. Terry Branstad. Paul will be senior vice president for public affairs and Centers will be vice president of strategic communications.

- SCN hires Jim Jordan: SCN Strategies, a California-based Democratic media and consulting firm, has hired Jim Jordan to lead East Coast operations from D.C. Jordan is a former executive director of the DSCC, was the initial campaign manager for John Kerry's presidential bid and founded the Thunder Road Group.

ADMINISTRATION SPEED READ - "Can the White House drive the tax reform train? History says no," by POLITICO's Darren Samuelsohn: "Republican and Democratic veterans of Washington's messy policymaking process have a vehement response to the idea that the White House, fresh from its failed attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act, will take the lead on drafting legislation to reform the nation's tax system: Good luck with that. Traditionally, the White House has stumbled when trying to craft major new legislation. Writing laws is, after all, what Congress gets paid to do - and they don't like being big-footed by staffers at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., even when they come from the same party."
Full story.

- "Who is 'Source D'? The man said to be behind the Trump-Russia dossier's most salacious claim," The Washington Post's Rosalind S. Helderman and Tom Hamburger: "By his own evolving statements, Sergei Millian is either a shrewd businessman with high-level access to both Trump's inner circle and the Kremlin, or a bystander unwittingly caught up in a global controversy. An examination of Millian's career shows he is a little of both. His case lays bare the challenge facing the FBI as it investigates Russia's alleged attempts to manipulate the American political system and whether Trump associates participated. It also illustrates why the Trump administration remains unable to shake the Russia
story. While some of the unproven claims attributed in the dossier to Millian are bizarre and outlandish, there are also indications that he had contacts with Trump's circle." Full story.

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Phenomenal." - That's how White House press secretary Sean Spicer has described "the health care debacle, the travel ban setback, difficulties with Mexico, a slew of empty positions across the government." POLITICO calls it his "kiss of death."

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