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By Elena Schneider | 01/04/2017 10:00 AM EDT


With Kevin Robillard

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)

IN THE STATES - "Democrats fear GOP voter law push in 2017," by Campaign Pro's Kevin Robillard: "Democrats hoped to start 2017 by passing a series of friendly new voting reforms in the states. Instead, it's Republicans who are offense, newly empowered by the election results and looking to curtail voter registration periods, expand voter ID, and potentially more in states they control. New Hampshire Republicans, who control all levers of state government after Chris Sununu was elected governor, want to do away with same-day voter registration in the state - which both parties have credited for Democratic wins in recent close elections. Michigan legislators briefly took up a stricter voter
ID measure after the election and could decide to revive it. And in North Carolina, Republicans have discussed passing new voter laws since outgoing Gov. Pat McCrory and allies alleged that voter fraud played a role in his defeat." Full story.

OFF AND RUNNING - Whitmer jumps into Michigan gubernatorial race: Gretchen Whitmer, a former prosecutor and Democratic state legislative leader, became the first big name in either party to enter the Michigan governor's race on Tuesday. Whitmer will be a top-tier contender to replace GOP Gov. Rick Snyder, whose popularity has sagged following the scandal surrounding lead-tainted water in the city of Flint. But she likely won't be the only Democratic name in the contest. Reps. Dan Kildee and Debbie Dingell could also enter, with Democrats seeing a Kildee run as much more likely.

- "We deserve a leader who will put people first, and work for good-paying jobs, high quality education, and economic opportunities for all," Whitmer said in a statement. "A leader who will never cut corners when it comes to people's health and safety. A leader who will fight for us. And that's why I filed today to run for governor." Here's much more from the Detroit Free Press.

- Kildee spokesman says decision to come soon: In a statement, the congressman said that he "appreciates the encouragement" to run for governor, but he's currently focused on his district. In a May interview, Kildee said he would decide after the November 2016 general election, per MLive.

INTERNAL AFFAIRS - "Mandel hires Kasich fundraiser for Senate bid," via POLITICO's Alex Isenstadt: "Ohio Senate hopeful Josh Mandel is moving to heal his rift with GOP Gov. John Kasich, tapping one of Kasich's longtime aides to serve as his fundraiser. Mandel has hired Brooke Bodney, a top Kasich fundraiser and a veteran of Ohio politics, to help him raise money, according to two sources familiar with the move." Full story.

- O'Neill keeping an eye on things: Supreme Court Justice William O'Neill, the lone Democrat holding statewide office in Ohio, is considering a bid for governor, but he will wait to see if any "truly competitive" Democratic candidates emerge and will decide by the end of the year, per The Associated Press. Two other Democrats are sizing up the seat: Senate Minority Leader Joe Schiavoni and former state Rep. Connie Pillich, a 2014 state treasurer candidate. "I want to see whether or not the Ohio Democratic Party learned anything in 2016. There are a lot of people saying, 'Hey, I want to run for governor,' but I haven't heard anybody come up with any concrete proposals for what they would do
if they became governor. No one's coming up with any solutions," O'Neill told the Associated Press, listing his own policy proposals.

Days until the 2017 election: 307.

Days until the 2018 election: 671.

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

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

MORE STAFFING UP - Stewart hires former Cruz staffer as campaign manager: Prince William County Board of Supervisors Chair Corey Stewart has hired Spence Rogers, a former Ted Cruz campaign staffer and a West Point graduate, as his campaign manager in the Virginia governor's race. Rogers was a top official in Cruz's Iowa Caucus operation, which Stewart, who is waging an uphill GOP campaign against Ed Gillespie, cited as a reason for his hire. Check out this CBS News profile of Rogers during the caucuses.

IT'S PERSONAL - "The GOP race for lieutenant governor is getting ugly in Virginia," by The Washington Post's Laura Vozzella: "It was already going to be awkward: Two state senators, once friends, will return to the Capitol this month as rivals for the GOP nomination for lieutenant governor. But the battle between Sens. Bryce E. Reeves (Spotsylvania) and Jill Holtzman Vogel (Fauquier) has grown unusually ugly and personal, with allegations of deeply hurtful dirty tricks. An email sent to some Reeves supporters accused him - falsely, he said - of having an affair with a campaign aide. Armed with subpoenaed Internet records, Reeves told The Washington Post that he had proof that Vogel or
someone close to her was behind it. The message was linked to a cellphone belonging to Vogel's husband, Alex Vogel, and to two IP addresses - one tied to the Vogels' Upperville estate and the other to their next-door neighbors' home, according to copies of the records provided to The Post."

- Vogel's campaign denied involvement, suggesting that a hacker might be the culprit - something that we may see more and more in campaigns: "'Jill and Alex Vogel have not sent, have not authorized, have not approved, and were not aware of any anonymous communications concerning either of her competitors for the Republican nomination,' the statement said. 'They would never condone such tactics, nor would they permit a campaign employee or volunteer to do so on behalf of our campaign. ... Regrettably, in this day and age, there are many ways a person can send an anonymous email and make it appear to have originated from another sender.' The Vogels' next-door neighbor, Lisa Gable, whose home
IP address was linked to the email, said she knew nothing about the message. She said the two families set up a shared wireless Internet system because of the lack of high-speed access in their rural area. Gable speculated that someone might have been able to tap into the system by parking in her driveway or the Vogels'."
Full story.

ON THE HILL - "GOP plans to crush Democratic opposition to Trump Cabinet," by POLITICO's Burgess Everett and Seung Min Kim: "Senate Republicans have a plan to break the Democratic resistance to Donald Trump's Cabinet: Make their delay tactics as excruciating as possible. With Senate Democrats threatening to drag out the confirmation process for weeks, the GOP is preparing to keep the chamber running around the clock if that's what it takes to speedily confirm Trump's Cabinet. It's the kind of retaliatory strategy that will bring all-night sessions, 3 a.m. votes and a long slog through the first months of Trump's presidency that could sap some of the GOP's legislative momentum. Sen. John
Thune , the No. 3 Senate Republican, said the GOP will do 'whatever it takes' to get Trump his team as quickly as possible." Full story.

TRANSITION SPEED READ - "Meet the Harvard whiz kid who wants to explain Trumpism," by POLITICO's Eliana Johnson: "A 30-year-old conservative wunderkind is out to intellectualize Trumpism, the amorphous ideology that lifted its namesake to the presidency in November. Until recently, the idea itself was an oxymoron, since Trumpism has consisted in large part of the President-elect's ruthless evisceration of the country's intellectual elite. But next month, Julius Krein, a 2008 Harvard graduate who has spent most of his admittedly short career in finance, is launching a journal of public policy and political philosophy with an eye toward laying the intellectual foundation for the Trump
movement. If his nerdy swagger is any indication, he has big ambitions: He noted wryly that he is - 'coincidentally' - the same age that William F. Buckley Jr. was six decades ago when he founded National Review, the magazine that became the flagship of the conservative movement." Full story.

- "House Republicans, Under Fire, Back Down on Gutting Ethics Office," by The New York Times' Eric Lipton and Matt Flegenheimer: "It was supposed to be a triumphant morning for Republicans on Capitol Hill - a moment to demonstrate the merits of unified party rule in the age of Donald J. Trump. By noon, party leaders had a message for their charges: It was not going smoothly. The day after House Republicans voted to eliminate an independent ethics body, members returned to work on Tuesday to find their offices inundated with angry missives from constituents amid a national uproar. By midmorning, Mr. Trump had weighed in, questioning the members' priorities on Twitter. ... The reversal came
less than 24 hours after House Republicans, meeting in a secret session, voted to curtail the powers of the Office of Congressional Ethics, an independent body created in 2008 after a series of scandals involving House lawmakers, including three who were sent to jail. It was part of a turbulent opening for the Trump era in Washington, marked by a Republican push in the Senate to repeal the Affordable Care Act." Full story.

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "It was a stumble. And, you know, probably not the way you want to start out." - Rep. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.), to Buzzfeed, about the rules imbroglio that took up much of the new Congress' first day.

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