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By Theodoric Meyer | 04/14/2016 10:00 AM EDT


With Kevin Robillard, 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)

OUTSIDE MONEY - "McConnell targeted by Dem-affiliated PAC over court fight," by POLITICO's Edward-Isaac Dovere: "Mitch McConnell isn't up for re-election this year - but the Senate Majority PAC's nonprofit arm, which backs Democrats, is launching ads against him as part of its latest ad campaign, targeting him in Kentucky and four vulnerable Republican incumbents over their refusal to move on Merrick Garland's nomination. Majority Forward's $350,000 digital buy will also be targeted in New Hampshire, Ohio, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Left off the list of contested Senate battlegrounds: Illinois, where Republican Sen. Mark Kirk is seen as the most in danger of losing. But Kirk, who met with
Garland last week, has been pushing for the process to move forward and has urged his colleagues to join in." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=98a93eb8c4ea9f024af7f4f862edf6d0b3072fe4941ec6738618fb4beb0af546

FEMALE VOICES - "Women at center of Maryland advertising battle," by Campaign Pro's Kevin Robillard: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=98a93eb8c4ea9f0200039067838a889da90e10ae111cc6cd2843db1b825a0899

KIRK BEING KIRK - "Kirk goes full RINO to save Senate seat," by POLITICO's Seung Min Kim and Burgess Everett: "Sen. Mark Kirk isn't just distancing himself from the rest of the GOP - he's fleeing from it. From the Supreme Court vacancy battle to gay rights to criminal justice reform, the moderate Illinois Republican is sounding more like a Democrat with each passing day as he fights to save his political life in an overwhelmingly blue state this fall. ... 'For me, it's just Mark Kirk being Mark Kirk, because I was always very independent of my party in the House, as well as in the Senate,' Kirk, a former House member, said in an interview with POLITICO on Wednesday. 'I think for Illinois,
they want a thoughtful, independent voice and not just a party Xerox.'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=98a93eb8c4ea9f0210ae945b88145f51e2ad6a8abfb27bc7315aa074911279fd

Days until the New York primary: 5. Days until the 2016 election: 208.

Thanks for joining us. You can email tips to the whole Campaign Pro team at sbland@politico.com, eschneider@politico.com, krobillard@politico.com and tmeyer@politico.com.

You can also follow us on Twitter, where we tweet a lot about campaigns and occasionally about what Chuck Grassley might be having for breakfast: @politicoscott, @ec_schneider, @politicokevin, and @theodoricmeyer.

DONORS REVEALED - Obama allies funded pro-Zopp super PAC, FEC report reveals: In the days before the March 15 Senate primary in Illinois, a super PAC spent $242,000 on ads and get-out-the-vote calls in a last-ditch effort to help Andrea Zopp, a businessman and former prosecutor who lost in a landslide to Democratic Rep. Tammy Duckworth. Now the super PAC, Illinois Voices Matter, has filed its FEC report and revealed its donors, who were unknown before the election since the group had been formed after the last filing deadline. The biggest donor: Michael Sacks, a North Shore key ally of Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who gave $100,000. Several prominent allies of President Barack Obama also wrote
checks, including Melody Hobson, John Rogers and Bill Daley, the former White House chief of staff who was Zopp's most prominent backer.

FUNDRAISING NUGGETS - "Bulk of Ryan's fundraising haul in $50,000-plus chunks," by POLITICO's Jake Sherman: "Paul Ryan's massive $17 million fundraising haul this quarter was fueled by some of the nation's richest people and large corporate political action committees, which cut five- and six-figure checks to the speaker's burgeoning political operation, according to an election filing made public Wednesday. More than $9 million of Ryan's take in the first quarter of 2016 was from donors and PACs who cut checks larger than $50,000, according to a POLITICO analysis of the Team Ryan Federal Election Commission filing. For example, billionaire industrialist Charles Koch, chairman and CEO of
Koch Industries, and his wife Elizabeth gave Ryan a total of $488,400 in March alone. Koch Industries PAC chipped in $71,000." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=98a93eb8c4ea9f02b0e76b09e401b84eac1e0163a40d833376cf15895d2f8e5c

- More here on Ryan's fundraising, including details on digital fundraising for the NRCC: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=98a93eb8c4ea9f024f9c6916bad7598eefff3baa1ce915dbbaf07585588e2fae

MORE FUNDRAISING NUMBERS - Nevada (Senate): Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto raised $2 million in the first quarter for her campaign to replace retiring Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid. Cortez Masto now has $2.5 million on hand, her campaign said. The former state attorney general ended 2015 with $1.9 million on hand, but spent heavily in the first quarter on television ads to introduce herself to voters. Her most likely GOP opponent, Rep. Joe Heck, has not released fundraising numbers yet.

- CA-31: Democratic Rep. Pete Aguilar raised $352,000 in the first quarter, his campaign said, giving him $1.2 million in cash on hand.

- NV-04: Susie Lee, who's running in a crowded Democratic primary for the chance to face GOP Rep. Cresent Hardy, raised about $230,000 in the first quarter, her campaign said, giving her about $642,000 in cash on hand.

- TN-04: GOP Rep. Scott DesJarlais raised about $137,000 in the first quarter, giving him about $346,000 in cash on hand, according to his FEC report. His primary challenger, Grant Starrett, raised about $313,000 and had $909,000 in cash on hand, according to Starrett's campaign.

** A message from CWA District 2-13, AFL-CIO: Verizon's plan to outsource local jobs is harmful to middle-class families who depend on good jobs. Time to say enough: www.verizonlocalservice.com **

FIRST IN SCORE - McCain goes after Kirkpatrick in tax-themed digital ads: When Arizonans Google questions about how to finish their taxes in the coming days, they'll see ads urging them to learn more about how Democratic Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick "voted with Obama to raise your taxes." The ads, paid for by GOP Sen. John McCain's campaign, direct those who spot them to a page on McCain's website outlining six ways in which Kirkpatrick, who's challenging McCain, voted for new taxes or reduced tax breaks. The campaign is also paying for display ads bashing Kirkpatrick on websites that Arizonans click on from those Google searches - the first negative ads McCain has run against her this cycle. The
campaign wouldn't say how much it's spending on the ads.

AIR WAR - Sestak hypes Inquirer endorsement, McGinty hypes Obama endorsement: It's now President Barack Obama versus The Philadelphia Inquirer in Pennsylvania's Democratic Senate primary. On the same day Katie McGinty released an ad highlighting the president's endorsement of her, former Rep. Joe Sestak is out with a new spot built around his endorsement from Pennsylvania's largest newspaper. Public polls have shown McGinty - who's also been endorsed by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee - trailing Sestak, with John Fetterman in the third. Watch the McGinty ad: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=98a93eb8c4ea9f0232365c770ba07014dd1070f51254b001a88a70ef98edb59a Watch the Sestak ad: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=98a93eb8c4ea9f029663a308585a645d6be5147adf182cc1019a5317e2a8e079

- Outside help arrives for Stutzman in Indiana, but on a much smaller scale than Young's getting: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=98a93eb8c4ea9f02b953078502b6e5104375f4dd45e524d569ee6ba0146954b4

ANNALS OF ELECTION LAW - Nebraska lawmakers pass redistricting reform bill: Nebraska's unicameral legislature passed a bill on Wednesday that would create an independent redistricting commission, distancing state lawmakers from the process of drawing congressional and legislative district. "The proposed commission would be composed of five members of the party that won the most recent gubernatorial election and four members of the other political party," The Lincoln Journal Star's Don Walton reports. "They would submit proposed redistricting maps to the Legislature for its approval or disapproval, following a number of criteria that include achieving relative population equality and
respecting county lines whenever possible." The bill now heads to Gov. Pete Ricketts' desk; 29 lawmakers voted for it, just shy of the 30 needed to overcome a potential veto. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=98a93eb8c4ea9f02204e822b9fdc19eae07dc4d352e44cba5e7c91945a54f34d

PRESIDENTIAL SPEED READ - "Karl Rove-backed PAC warms to Trump," by POLITICO's Kenneth P. Vogel and Eli Stokols: "Karl Rove has publicly blasted Donald Trump as 'a petty man consumed by resentment and bitterness' with little gravitas and almost no chance of beating Hillary Clinton. But privately, the super PAC conceived by Rove is suggesting to its donors that it can help Trump win the White House and save Republican senators whose reelection bids could be jeopardized by having Trump at the top of the ticket. The apparent warming of the American Crossroads super PAC and its sister groups to Trump has become evident in its recent communications with donors, including a Tuesday afternoon
'investor conference call,' according to multiple sources familiar with the outreach." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=98a93eb8c4ea9f02a12c3598a3d4d86956fd5283eecea610429acb83be1a4d47

- "Donald Trump shuffles struggling campaign team," by POLITICO Eli Stokols and Kenneth P. Vogel: "Wounded GOP front-runner Donald Trump is quietly setting up a parallel campaign structure, hiring known Republican fixers to professionalize his operation and sidelining his original team. Under the guidance of his new strategist Paul Manafort, Trump on Wednesday brought aboard Rick Wiley, Scott Walker's former campaign manager and a former senior party official well versed in the rule-making process that might decide the GOP nomination in a contested convention."

- "Wiley's hiring demonstrates how quickly Manafort is consolidating his own power within Trump's campaign, gaining influence with the candidate and exerting authority over those who had previously reported to campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the campaign." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=98a93eb8c4ea9f023cbf6376316a247bd6e9bced31f06e566d007ac8680e91a8

- "Ted Cruz launches New York radio ad - against de Blasio," by The Washington Post's David Weigel: Ted Cruz is going after New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio in his first ad there. "The first Democratic mayor of New York City in 20 years is the second voice voters hear in the spot. 'I think Ted Cruz is out of touch with New York State and New York City," de Blasio says, in a clip from one of his reactions to Cruz's jibes about "New York values." A narrator takes over, saying that 'de Blasio's socialist policies are tearing this city apart.' 'Murders up nearly 10 percent," says the narrator. 'He treats cops like criminals, and criminals like freedom fighters.'"
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=98a93eb8c4ea9f027ac5f2cd2b9d16d5cf7e6035fbe0bc87754902ae5d5dcd23

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "There are two men I respect in this world: Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump." - Chris Szymanski, a Manhattan diamond salesman and Trump supporter, who he says respects Putin and Trump because "they are strong leaders with big follow-up." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=98a93eb8c4ea9f021838c3cfb4cfb3cd7b5b6f9e85c6e480a0c290d12f0d38c5

** A message from CWA District 2-13, AFL-CIO: It is time our politicians demand that the businesses we give our tax dollars to put our communities first. Verizon can't be making billions in profits while laying off people locally and outsourcing good paying jobs to the Philippines.

Verizon's plan to send local jobs out of state is harmful to middle-class communities who depend on high-quality, family-supporting jobs, and puts our sensitive data at risk by sending calls outside of the jurisdiction of the FCC. Time to say enough: www.verizonlocalservice.com **

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