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By Scott Bland | 06/15/2017 10:00 AM EDT


With Daniel Strauss and 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)

UPDATE FROM LATE WEDNESDAY - "House Majority Whip Steve Scalise was in critical condition in a Washington hospital Wednesday night," POLITICO's Louis Nelson, John Bresnahan and Jake Sherman report, "and will require additional surgeries after a bullet pierced his hip, injured organs and caused 'severe bleeding,' according to a statement." Full story.

MEMO ITEMS - Gillespie campaign says the Virginia governor's race is tied: In a memo released Wednesday morning, the Gillespie campaign said Public Opinion Strategies had conducted a poll of 600 likely voters from June 6-8. The poll showed Gillespie earning 46 percent of the vote to Northam's 45 percent, and leading him among independents 49 percent to 37 percent. The survey contradicts most public polling, which has shown Northam with a substantial lead. "It is clear that as the general election campaign begins, it opens as a dead heat," campaign manager Chris Leavitt writes. "But one candidate positioned himself well for a competitive general election campaign in the Commonwealth, while
the other moved far to the left of the state's electorate. And that will have major ramifications."

- FIRST IN SCORE - DGA argues Northam has advantage: DGA communications director Jared Leopold argues his party's candidate is position to swamp Republican Ed Gillespie. "Republicans remain deeply divided. Their hand-picked insider candidate barely squeaked out a primary victory over an underfunded Confederate flag enthusiast, who bluntly refused to unite behind Gillespie," he writes. "Democrats have a head of steam: More than 542,000 Democrats turned out to vote in Virginia's open primary, compared to just 366,000 Republicans. Democratic primary turnout in 2017 reached nearly 70% of 2016 presidential primary figures, while Republican turnout hit just over 35%. And Republican nominee Ed
Gillespie finished nearly 80,000 votes behind Democratic runner-up Tom Perriello." Read the full memo here.

- NARAL argues abortion rights gave Northam the win: NARAL is out with a memo arguing Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam's career-long support of and emphasis on abortion rights was crucial to his victory over former Rep. Tom Perriello in Tuesday night's Virginia primary. "The issue quickly [became] the most salient point of contrast between the two Democratic campaigns," NARAL Pro-Choice America political director Joel Foster wrote. "While both campaigns emphasized their plans to defend abortion access, the candidate who focused his campaign and much of his career on the fight for reproductive freedom won handily." Read the full memo here.

BACK IN THE SADDLE? - "Republican Corey Stewart is eyeing Senate run against Tim Kaine in 2018," by The Washington Post's Laura Vozzella: "Corey Stewart said he might challenge Sen. Tim Kaine in 2018 on Wednesday, one day after he nearly won the GOP primary for Virginia governor in a surprisingly strong showing. 'Kaine is vulnerable,' said Stewart, who on Tuesday finished a little over 1 percent behind former Republican National Committee chairman Ed Gillespie. The Prince William County chairman ran a provocative, Donald Trump-style campaign that focused on the preservation of Virginia's Confederate monuments. He also took a hard line on criminal illegal immigrants, promising to 'lock them
up.'" Full story.

NEW HOUSE CANDIDATE - Democratic medical researcher Hans Keirstead launches bid against GOP Rep. Dana Rohrabacher: Keirstead, a stem cell researcher and businessman whose work has included treatments for spinal cord injuries and cancer, is kicking off a campaign for CA-48 today. "I'm running for Congress because I believe that innovative thinking and a people-first attitude matter to the constituents of this district," Keirstead said in a release. Rohrabacher's CA-48 went narrowly for Hillary Clinton (48 percent to 46 percent) in 2016. He's not the first Democrat to launch in the district, though: Real estate businessman Harley Rouda is already in the race, too.

Days until the 2017 election: 145.

Days until the 2018 election: 509.

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.

YOUR DAILY GEORGIA - "U.S. Chamber plans final push for Handel," by the Atlanta Journal Constitution's Greg Bluestein: "The U.S. Chamber is pumping another $150,000 into the race for Georgia's 6th District with plans to target about 42,000 likely supporters of Republican Karen Handel in the final days before Tuesday's vote." Full story.

- NEW POLL - Ossoff 50, Handel 47 in Trafalgar survey: The GOP firm's latest IVR survey (June 10-13, 2.9 percentage point margin of error) shows Democrat Jon Ossoff with a narrow 3-point edge. See the poll results here.

FIRST IN SCORE - Let America Vote opens first field office in Virginia: The Democratic voting-rights group headed by Jason Kander will announce today that it is opening an office in Manassas "as part of a field operation that will span multiple states supporting voting rights champions running for office. The Manassas office will host field staff who will work to elect challengers and incumbents who support voting rights in state legislative races ... in addition to supporting Ralph Northam for governor. Virginia House of Delegates districts currently being targeted by Let America Vote include districts 2, 13, 31, 32, 34, 40, 50, 51, 67, and 87."

- ALSO - Progressive Turnout Project announces overlapping set of Virginia targets: The Democratic group will spend $600,000 on turnout efforts in 10 GOP House of Delegates districts carried by Hillary Clinton last year: 2, 13, 21, 31, 42, 50, 67, 72, 73, and 94. PTP is opening three field offices and hiring 25 field organizers dedicated to "turning out likely Democrats who are inconsistent voters." The program will be run as "randomized control trial experiments," per a release.

DONOR MAINTENANCE - "Trump huddled with donors on day of Comey testimony," by POLITICO's Tara Palmeri and Kenneth P. Vogel: "On the same day last week that fired FBI Director James Comey delivered his damaging Senate testimony, President Donald Trump's team summoned about a dozen top donors to the White House to rally support for Trump's agenda. The donors - including Ken Griffin, Doug DeVos, Tom Hicks, Jr., Rebekah Mercer, Todd Ricketts, Tom Saunders, Paul Singer and Dick Uihlein - gathered in the Roosevelt Room on June 8 for a briefing from Trump's legislative director Marc Short, according to a senior administration official and other people familiar with the event. ... It took place
just days after Short acknowledged to reporters that the Russia investigations were 'detract(ing) from our legislative agenda' ... a senior administration official said that topics covered during the briefing included health care, tax reform, the confirmation of Supreme Court justice Neil Gorsuch, pending judicial nominations, the Paris climate accord and the Saudi arms sale. '[It was a] "here's what we see as the legislative calendar and how you can be helpful" type of meeting,' the official said." Full story.

POLL POSITION - "Quinnipiac poll: Murphy 55-26 Guadagno, Christie approval at 15 percent," by POLITICO New Jersey's Matt Friedman: "New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie now has the lowest approval rating of any New Jersey governor in recorded history, and it's hurting his lieutenant governor's campaign to replace him, according to a poll released Wednesday. The Quinnipiac University poll shows Christie's approval rating among New Jersey voters at just 15 percent, with 81 percent disapproving. Christie's approval rating is the lowest Quinnipiac found for any governor it measured in any state in more than 20 years. ... The poll found [Democrat Phil] Murphy leading [Lt. Gov. Kim] Guadagno by a huge
margin, 55 percent to 26 percent," in the gubernatorial race. Full story.

TRANSITIONS - EMILY's List hires Emily Cain as executive director: For the first time ever, an Emily will help lead EMILY's List. Emily Cain, a former Maine state legislative leader who lost congressional bids in 2014 and 2016, will replace now-DNC CEO Jessica O'Connell as the group's executive director. "Emily is a leader for progressive change at a moment when the rights, security and well-being of women and American families are under unprecedented assault by the radical and dangerous policies of the Trump administration and GOP," EMILY's List president Stephanie Schriock said. "Emily knows how to fight back. She has been a candidate in tough races and an effective minority leader in the
state legislature."

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "It is clear to me, based on eyewitness accounts, that without these heroes, Agents Bailey and Griner, many lives would have been lost." - House Speaker Paul Ryan, speaking Wednesday about the Capitol Police officers who intervened during the shooting at the congressional GOP baseball practice early Wednesday morning.

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