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By Kevin Robillard | 02/01/2018 10:00 AM EDT


With Elena Schneider and Maggie Severns

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)

DEPARTURE LOUNGE - "Gowdy finally had it with Washington," by POLITICO's Rachael Bade: "The House Oversight Committee Chairman for years has joked privately about quitting Congress and returning home to South Carolina. On Wednesday, he finally pulled the plug - likely for good. A rising star that many Republicans once considered a dark-horse for speaker of the House, [Trey] Gowdy announced Wednesday he would not seek reelection or any political office and would instead return to the justice system. Sources close to him say he wants to return home, practice law and maybe teach and write a book with his friend Sen. Tim Scott. ... White House counsel Don McGahn in recent weeks broached Gowdy,
a former federal prosecutor, about filling a slot on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals - a newly vacated judgeship that Gowdy has eyed before, according to sources close to Gowdy. His fellow Palmetto State Republicans, Scott and Sen. Lindsey Graham, also urged him to accept the post. But Gowdy, who's long complained about the increasingly toxic nature of politics, turned down the position, the sources said. ... National Republicans said they expect a crowded primary to replace Gowdy in his Republican-leaning seat based in Greenville. Several names have already been floated as potential replacements, including state Rep. Dan Hamilton, state Rep. Garry Smith and Karen Floyd, a
businesswoman and former South Carolina GOP party chairwoman. Minutes after Gowdy's announcement, Spartanburg County Republican Chairman and talk radio host Josh Kimbrell posted on Facebook that he was 'exploring a run' to 'keep the 4th District on the national stage in the conservative fight.'" Full story.

- "Bob Brady not running for reelection," by POLITICO's Heather Caygle and Elena Schneider: "Rep. Bob Brady, a longtime powerhouse in Philadelphia Democratic politics, won't seek reelection to the House, according to a person close to the congressman. ... The old-school politician and party boss - known in Congress as a fixer and backroom dealmaker - has been dogged by questions about retirement in recent months amid a federal probe into allegations his campaign paid a primary challenger to drop out in 2012. ... Brady told The Philadelphia Inquirer in an interview that he plans to remain as local party chairman, but he didn't want that position to affect the map-drawing, potentially
affecting two other Democratic congressmen based in Philadelphia: Dwight Evans and Brendan Boyle." Full story.

INSIDE THE MEETING - "Republicans see hope for midterms, despite Trump's unpopularity," by Burgess Everett and Rachael Bade in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va.: "House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) told Senate and House Republicans here that the midterm elections were beginning to tilt the GOP's way after bottoming out in December, and that that the House was not lost, according to a half-dozen attendees during a rare joint House and Senate GOP session at the party's bicameral retreat. Using a slick PowerPoint presentation, Ryan attributed the Republicans' comeback to the recently passed tax changes and said there was a path to keeping the House in GOP hands, citing polls that show big Democratic
leads in the congressional ballot eroding." Full story.

VP VOLLEYS - Pence, Manchin trade attacks: Vice President Mike Pence used the occasion of the GOP retreat in West Virginia to attack Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin in a tweetstorm. "I was in WV a few months ago & I spoke to the WV Chamber of Commerce. @Sen_JoeManchin was there - & I looked him in the eye and I told him, "Joe, the people of the Mountain State are counting on you,' so let's 'get this tax cut done together.' But #JoeVotedNo." He went on to resuscitate the hashtag, hitting Manchin for voting against Obamacare repeal.

- Manchin responded with his new catchphrase: "Last week, I worked in a bipartisan way with Senator Collins to end the shutdown, and last night President Trump called for unity and bipartisanship. The Vice President's comments are exactly why Washington Sucks," Manchin said in a statement.

- VP'S 2018 PLANS - POLITICO Playbook scored an interview with the vice president, where he talked about his 2018 strategy and some of the states he plans on campaigning in. Subscribe to Playbook to get the exclusive in your inbox later this morning.

MONEY CHASE - "DGA raised $41M in 2017," by Campaign Pro's Daniel Strauss: "The Democratic Governors Association raised $41 million in 2017, the group said today, bringing in roughly $20 million over the final six months of the year. ... The fundraising haul is smaller than the $63 million the Republican Governors Association raised last year." Full story.

-Trump spends another $1 million on legal fees: "President Donald Trump's campaign spent more than $1 million on legal fees during the final three months of 2017, according to a new filing late Wednesday with the FEC," reports Campaign Pro's Maggie Severns. "Spending on legal services is allowed under federal law so long as the expenses were incurred from parts of the investigation related to the Trump campaign. The campaign paid Jones Day, which represented Trump during the campaign, $832,765. The campaign also paid $28,530 to The Trump Corporation and $214,467 to McDermott Will & Emery, which is representing Trump's longtime attorney Michael Cohen in the Russia probe." Full story.

-Also in last night's FEC filings: Trump Victory, one of the pro-Trump joint fundraising committees, paid $7,000 to the Wynn Las Vegas in early December.

- Big money: Wednesday's fundraising deadline revealed some major donors to key Senate super PACs. Among them: Senate Leadership Fund raised $2.5 million last quarter, including $500,000 from Devon Energy, $100,000 from megadonor Warren Stephens and $100,000 from Koch Industries. Senate Majority PAC raised $17 million since last July. Big donors include $2 million from Newsweb Corporation's Fred Eychaner, $2 million from Working for Working Americans and $1.5 million from the Laborers' International Union of North America.

ISSUE WATCH - "New group aims to make prescription drug profits a midterm issue," by Campaign Pro's Kevin Robillard: "A new group is preparing to spend more than $1 million to back candidates committed to lowering prescription drug prices in the 2018 midterms.

"Patients for Affordable Drugs NOW, a 501(c)4 nonprofit, says it will spend seven figures to make lower drug costs a central issue of this year's campaigns. Political figures across the ideological spectrum are signaling they intend to campaign against the pharmaceutical industry this year. ... The group has said it already sent questionnaires to a dozen incumbent members and challengers to see if they support legislation to curb drug prices and will use them to create a bipartisan list of candidates to back. It also promised to disclose all of its donors." Full story.

Days until the 2018 election: 278

Upcoming election dates - Arizona 8th District special primary: Feb. 27. Texas primaries: March 6. Pennsylvania 18th District special election: March 13. Illinois primaries: March 20.

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.

FINAL, FINAL Q4 TOTALS - Candidates' fourth quarter financial filings were due Wednesday night, but the FEC doesn't finish wrapping all those numbers until later this week, so look for more of our coverage on this soon.

- CA-48: Democrat Hans Keirstead raised $400,000 last quarter.

- CA-49: Democrat Sara Jacobs raised $1.3 million since jumping in the race, including a $1 million personal loan.

- CA-50: Democrat Ammar Campa-Najjar raised $180,000 last quarter.

- KS-03: Republican Rep. Kevin Yoder raised $510,000 last quarter.

- MI-07: Democrat Gretchen Driskell raised $310,000 last quarter.

- NE-02: Republican Rep. Don Bacon raised $240,000 last quarter.

- NH-01: Democratic Executive Councilor Chris Pappas raised $219,000 in 53 days, WMUR reports.

- NV-04: Democrat Susie Lee raised $380,000 last quarter, ending the year with $600,000 in cash on hand.

- NY-01: Democrat Kate Browning raised $160,000 last quarter with $140,000 in cash on hand.

- NY-22: GOP Rep. Claudia Tenney raised $208,000 in the fourth quarter and has $563,000 on hand, Syracuse.com reports.

- NC-09: Democrat Dan McCready raised $350,000 last quarter, finishing the year with $930,000 in cash on hand.

- PA-18: Democrat Conor Lamb, an attorney and veteran, raised $560,000 through Dec. 31 and had $412,000 in cash on hand at the end of the year, according to his filing. GOP State Rep. Rick Saccone brought in $215,000 and had $200,000 in the bank.

- VA-10: Democrat Paul Pelletier raised $200,000 in the first six weeks of his campaign, ending the year with $180,000 in cash on hand.

- More VA-10: Democrat Jennifer Wexton raised $200,000 last quarter.

FIRST IN SCORE - GETTING THE NOD - Club for Growth backs Dino Rossi in WA-08: The Club for Growth endorsed Republican Dino Rossi on Thursday. Rossi has effectively cleared the GOP primary field for the race to replace retiring Republican Rep. Dave Reichert. "Throughout his years serving in Washington's State Senate, Dino has shown his fiscal conservative stripes time and time again," Club for Growth PAC President David McIntosh said in a statement.

- End Citizens United backs four House candidates: End Citizens United endorsed four House Democratic challengers - Josh Butner (CA-50), Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (FL-26), Max Rose (NY-11) and Sylvia Garcia (TX-29), according to a statement from the group.

- EMILY's List backs two gubernatorial candidates: The Democratic group endorsed Attorney General Janet Mills in Maine and Chris Giunchigliani in Nevada.

FIRST-PERSON - "What It's Like To Be Roledexed: One Candidate's Journey Into The Reality of Political Fundraising," by Paul Perry in The Intercept: "On paper, I was an ideal candidate for the Democrats. ... But the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee didn't take an interest in me until they started to have doubts about the other top candidates: two white men who had already raised hundreds of thousands of dollars and a white woman who would loan her campaign $170,000. I also started raising significant money, putting me on their radar. ... In other words: We don't give a s--- who you are, young man. Just show us the money." Full story.

WEB WARS - FIRST IN SCORE - Brendan Kelly addresses opioid crisis in IL-12: Democrat Brendan Kelly is out with a digital ad on the opioid crisis, featuring a mother, Chris, who lost her daughter to an overdose in 2012. Kelly, directly addressing the camera, says, "pharmaceutical companies give money to members of Congress and Congress then doesn't allow enforcement to regulate the flow of these pharmaceuticals that are causing this cycle of addiction in our communities." Kelly says he was the first state's attorney in Illinois "to take on big pharmaceutical companies." Watch the ad here.

- Abigail Spanberger pops digital ad in VA-07: Democrat Abigail Spanberger, a former undercover CIA operations officer who hopes to take on GOP Rep. Dave Brat, released a digital ad that describes her resume, citing the health care repeal vote as the moment she decided to run for Congress. Watch the ad here.

- Congressional Leadership Fund targets Democrats over SOTU: The Congressional Leadership Fund released a digital ad that attacks Democrats for not standing or applauding for "record low African-American unemployment," "middle class tax cuts" and "the national anthem." Watch the ad here.

ON THE AIR - Lizzie Pannill Fletcher releases first ad in TX-07: Lizzie Pannill Fletcher, the EMILY's List-backed candidate to challenge GOP Rep. John Culberson, is out with her first ad. The spot focuses on Fletcher's work defending a Planned Parenthood clinic during the 1992 GOP convention. Watch the ad here.

OPPO CORNER - "Josh Hawley blames sex trafficking on 'sexual revolution' of 1960s in leaked audio," by the Kansas City Star's Bryan Lowry: "During a speech at a 'Pastors and Pews' event hosted by the Missouri Renewal Project, Hawley tied the issue to the sexual revolution, the cultural shift in the 1960s and 1970s that eliminated the social stigma for premarital sex and contraception that had been commonplace in the United States. ... Hawley's campaign spokeswoman, Kelli Ford, said the candidate's comments about the links between trafficking and the sexual revolution do not need clarification." Full story.

- @clairecmc: "I didn't go to one of those fancy private schools, but the history I learned in public schools & Mizzou taught me that the evidence of trafficking of women for sex goes back to before 2000 BC. It didn't begin with women's rights and the birth control pill. @HawleyMo"

THE (FINAL?) DAILY MENENDEZ - "Justice Department drops corruption case against Menendez," by POLITICO's Matt Friedman and Ryan Hutchins: "The Justice Department reversed itself and dropped its corruption case against Sen. Bob Menendez on Wednesday, removing a huge burden from the senator - and national Democrats - as he prepares for a reelection campaign. The decision by Judge Jose Linares in Newark to dismiss all the remaining counts comes less than two weeks after the Justice Department announced it would retry Menendez, a Democrat and New Jersey's senior senator, and his co-defendant, Florida eye doctor Salomon Melgen, on corruption charges." Full story.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: "It would also be great if GOP Senate candidates could stop writing Claire's attack ads and fundraising emails for her." - Missouri Senate candidate Austin Petersen, to the Kansas City Star.

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