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By Daniel Strauss | 03/26/2018 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)

CONVERTS - "GOP leans on former Democrats to keep the Senate" by Campaign Pro's Kevin Robillard: "The fate of the GOP-controlled Senate could come down to the performance of a handful of Democrats - former Democrats running as Republicans, that is. Four major GOP candidates in top battleground races actually voted in the 2008 Democratic presidential primary, and their party allegiance is already a hot-button topic in the contests. The latest instance is in Mississippi, where Gov. Phil Bryant announced last week he intends to appoint state Agriculture Commissioner Cindy Hyde-Smith, a Democrat until 2010, to replace Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) when Cochran resigns next week. Already,
conservative state Sen. Chris McDaniel is hitting Hyde-Smith, saying last week that 'the last thing the state of Mississippi needs in Washington is another moderate Democrat.'

"At least three other Republicans in some of the most vulnerable Democratic-held Senate seats up this year - Rep. Evan Jenkins in West Virginia, businessman and veteran Kevin Nicholson in Wisconsin and former state legislator Mike Braun in Indiana - also cast ballots in the 2008 Democratic presidential primary, leaving themselves open to brutal attacks from their primary rivals." Full story.

CLICK DU JOUR - FIRST IN SCORE - Braun bashes Rokita, Messer in new video: Braun is out with a new web video attacking his primary opponents, Reps. Luke Messer and Todd Rokita, as indistinguishable from each other. In the video, Braun carries around two paper cut-outs of the congressmen and asks people on the street to tell them apart. "Which one do you think is spending all your money?" Braun asks one man. "I think both of them are," the man replies. "What do you think of their attire?" "That's how you dress in the swamp." A 30-second version of the video will soon enter Braun's statewide television ad buy. Watch the video here.

MOUNTAINEER - "Can the most hated man in West Virginia win?" by Robillard: "On a recent Thursday afternoon, less than nine months after he was released from prison for his role in the worst U.S. mine explosion in the past 40 years, Don Blankenship made his first campaign stop of the day at a shopping center in the skinny spike of West Virginia's northern panhandle. For 25 minutes, he delivered an anti-government assault, railing against the 'District of Corruption' and demanding drug tests 'for as many officials as possible,' everyone from judges to members of Congress, which he believes would lead to dozens of high-level government employees losing their jobs. ...

"'It's as important for him to clear his name as it is for him to win this race,' said a West Virginia GOP operative supporting Blankenship who wasn't authorized to speak about the race on the record. In an increasingly conspiracy-minded GOP, where President Donald Trump got his real political start by embracing the falsehood that his predecessor was born outside the United States and some other Republican Senate candidates have played footsie or fully embraced right-wing conspiracy theorists, it's not hard to believe Blankenship's pitch, backed by at least some of his former employees and amplified by the television ads he can buy with millions, catching on with GOP primary voters. And
Blankenship is willing to spend a lot to find out just how many of them: 'I'll spend whatever it takes. That's what I've always done.'" Full story.

NO REELECT - "Costello won't run for reelection in Pennsylvania" by POLITICO Staff: "Republican Rep. Ryan Costello won't seek reelection this fall, a blow to Republicans seeking to hold his redrawn, suburban Philadelphia district. In an interview on Sunday with the Daily Local News of West Chester, Pa., Costello blamed the 'political environment' for abandoning his reelection bid, including the conduct of President Donald Trump. 'Whether it's Stormy Daniels, or passing an omnibus spending bill that the president threatens to veto after promising to sign [it], it's very difficult to move forward in a constructive way today,' Costello told the paper. Costello also had blame for 'the left' for
contributing 'a lot of hate' and fostering a toxic political environment. 'In some respects, my ego says to run,' he added. 'But when I look at what is the right decision for those who rely on me and the state of our body politic, I am convinced that no matter how bipartisan and open and transparent I am, there is so much anger out there that it doesn't matter.'" Full story.

NEW DIGITAL AD - The National Republican Senatorial Committee is rolling out a set of digital ads targeting red state Democrats. The ads link Clinton and her recent comments in India about Trump voters looking "backward" to those Democrats. Watch a sample ad here.

NEW THIS MORNING - AAN adds another $1 million to tax reform ads: American Action Network is launching a $1 million TV and digital ad effort in 26 House districts to continue to boost the GOP's tax law, H.R. 1 (115). The ad touts the "tax cut by the numbers," saying that "3 million Americans received bonuses" and "wage growth [is] fastest in 8 years." Full list of targeted districts here. Watch the ad here.

Days until the 2018 election: 226

Upcoming election dates - Indiana, Ohio, North Carolina and West Virginia primaries: May 8.

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

You can also follow us on Twitter: @politicoscott, @ec_schneider, @politicokevin, @danielstrauss4 and @maggieseverns.

O-H - "It's A Former NFL Player Vs. A Donald Trump Acolyte In A Battle For The Soul Of The Republican Party In Ohio" by BuzzFeed's Henry Gomez: "This spring, a primary for the open House seat here in Ohio's 16th congressional district will help shape the Republican Party's future - pitting the old and new versions of what it means to be a conservative against each other. At first glance, the two main candidates don't look so different: They're young and ambitious and would qualify as reliably conservative. Both are part of the National Republican Congressional Committee's recruitment program for top prospects. Both would vote for President Trump's agenda most of the time. But by the
standards of the Trump era - where style and identity overshadow ideology and policy, and where the lengths you go to to present yourself as a Trump loyalist often matter more than your voting record - there are sharp differences between Anthony Gonzalez and Christina Hagan." Full story.

GUN CONTROL - "Gun Marches Keep Republicans on Defense in Midterm Races" by The New York Times' Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns: "The passionate gun-control rallies that brought out large crowds around the country over the weekend signaled that gun violence is not going away as an issue in the 2018 midterm elections and raised the prospect that Republican candidates might be pushed mainly on the defensive on gun issues for the first time in decades. ... Republicans have already been struggling to keep their footing in densely populated suburbs where Mr. Trump is unpopular and the National Rifle Association is an object of widespread scorn. The gun issue appears likely to deepen
Republicans' problems in these areas, further cleaving moderate, pocketbook-minded suburban voters from the party's more hard-line rural base and raising the risks for Republicans in swing House districts around the country." Full story.

MEANWHILE IN CHICAGO - "Newman: My family will never forgive Lipinski" by POLITICO's Natasha Korecki: "The sting of defeat is still fresh, but just days after narrowly losing to longtime incumbent Rep. Dan Lipinski, progressive challenger Marie Newman isn't ruling out a rematch. In her first public remarks since falling short of ousting Lipinski, a 'ridiculously proud' Newman sounded like someone who wasn't about to end her foray into politics. 'I don't know what the future holds,' she said Sunday in an exclusive interview with POLITICO. 'I'm not closing any doors on anything. The next month will be about looking at where I can be most impactful. I've already been offered many things. I'll
be looking at a wide variety of things.' Lipinski was able to claim victory Tuesday evening with a roughly 2,000-vote lead - a number Newman believes will narrow even more once official tallies are in. ... 'The district is ready. It's a savvy, sophisticated constituency and voter population. They are hard-working and they want people they know are going to deliver,' she said. 'They now know very clearly that Mr. Lipinski has done nothing for the working class ... I think they uncovered that later in the campaign, but they now understand that.'" Full story.

THE STORMY INTERVIEW - "Stormy Daniels said she felt threatened to remain silent about Trump affair" by POLITICO's Lorraine Woellert and Brent D. Griffiths: "Adult film actress Stormy Daniels said she had a sexual relationship with Donald Trump in 2006 but signed a statement this year denying it because she was afraid of repercussions from Trump attorney Michael Cohen. 'They made it sound like I had no choice,' Daniels told Anderson Cooper in a interview airing Sunday night on '60 Minutes,' specifying that she feared legal retribution. 'As a matter of fact, the exact sentence used was, "They can make your life hell in many different ways."' Daniels, whose given name is Stephanie Clifford,
said it was not the first time she felt threatened over the affair. She said the first instance occurred when she spoke to InTouch Magazine in 2011. Daniels said an unknown man came up to her in a parking lot and threatened Daniels and her daughter." Full story.

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: " He quit talking about himself and he asked me things and I asked him things and it just became like more appropriate," - Stephanie Clifford, during her interview with 60 Minutes, on her relationship with President Trump, according to a transcript.

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