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By Elena Schneider | 01/11/2018 10:00 AM EDT


With Zach Montellaro and Daniel Strauss

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)

PROGRAMMING NOTE: Morning Score will not publish on Monday, Jan. 15. Our next Morning Score newsletter will publish on Tuesday, Jan. 16.

RETIREMENT RESET - "Rash of retirements dim GOP hopes of keeping the House," by POLITICO's Elena Schneider and John Bresnahan: "A flurry of Republican retirements in recent weeks has further weakened the party's hold on the House heading into the midterms - and the exodus probably isn't over. California GOP Reps. Darrell Issa and Ed Royce both bailed on their reelection campaigns in the past 48 hours, bringing the total of Republican-held open seats to a staggering 29 districts, a figure that includes lawmakers seeking higher offices. The Issa and Royce retirements open up seats that Hillary Clinton carried in the 2016 presidential race and will be more difficult - and expensive - for
Republicans to defend, particularly if the party is swept under a Democratic wave. 'There's no putting lipstick on that: They're both competitive districts,' Rep. Steve Stivers (R-Ohio), chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said in an interview Wednesday. Stivers, who said he believes the party will keep control of the House, still cautioned that more retirements could be coming - a statement likely to rattle Republicans' nerves." Full story.

ICYMI - "California Republican Darrell Issa to retire," by Schneider and Bresnahan. Full story.

- Meanwhile ... California Rep. Dana Rohrabacher released a statement to say he's "unequivocally running for re-election and confident that my views reflect the values and the needs of my constituents here in Orange County." Read the full statement here.

FROM THE COURTROOM - "Grand jury subpoena issued in Rep. Duncan Hunter criminal investigation," by San Diego Union-Tribune's Morgan Cook: "A federal grand jury is slated to hear evidence this month regarding certain transactions in Rep. Duncan Hunter's campaign treasury, which has been under scrutiny since the spring of 2016 as a result of frequent personal expenditures. A subpoena dated Dec. 21 was issued by the U.S. District Court in San Diego to a business in Hunter's congressional district. The subpoena commanded the witness to appear before a grand jury in downtown San Diego later this month." Full story.

SWITCHEROO - "Renacci will switch to Ohio Senate race," by Campaign Pro's Kevin Robillard: "Rep. Jim Renacci (R-Ohio) plans on abandoning his bid for governor and instead switching to Ohio's Senate race after securing the support of the Trump White House during a meeting on Wednesday, three sources with knowledge of the decision told POLITICO. An official announcement is expected on Thursday. But Senate Republican operatives increasingly believe Renacci is their best option to challenge Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) after his top challenger, state Treasurer Josh Mandel, suddenly dropped out of the contest last week." Full story.

- "Is the Last Rural Democrat in Indiana the Key to Beating Trump?" by POLITICO Magazine's Michael Kruse: "... This unusual profile for a Democrat makes him a species nearing extinction within the national party, but it's also the very reason he keeps getting reelected here. This paradox is why he is prominently featured in a report set to be made public today by the leadership PAC of third-term congresswoman Cheri Bustos. The report, "Hope from the Heartland: How Democrats Can Better Serve the Midwest by Bringing Rural, Working Class Wisdom to Washington," lands at a moment, of course, when Democrats are riled up with activist energy but also wrestling with themselves about the direction
of their party - their most reliable areas of support having receded to cities, coasts and college towns. In contrast, this report is based on interviews with 72 Democrats who hail from none of those places but rather largely agricultural, blue-collar areas in the vast, eight-state center of the country. It will be distributed to local and regional party leaders as well as the most important Democrats on Capitol Hill. Bustos shared an early copy exclusively with POLITICO." Full story.

SCOTUS WATCH - "Supreme Court divided over Ohio voter purge policy," by Reuters' Andrew Chung: "Conservative and liberal U.S. Supreme Court justices appeared at odds on Wednesday in a closely watched voting rights case, differing over whether Ohio's purging of infrequent voters from its registration rolls - a policy critics say disenfranchises thousands of people - violates federal law. ... 'The reason for purging is they want to protect voter rolls,' said Justice Anthony Kennedy, a conservative who often casts the deciding vote in close decisions. 'What we're talking about is the best tools to implement that purpose.'" Full story.

- NBC News' Pete Williams profile of Larry Harmon, who brought the original lawsuit.

Days until the 2018 election: 298

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.

Q4 TOTALS - "Laxalt has $3 million on hand in Nevada governor's race," by Campaign Pro's Daniel Strauss: "Nevada state Attorney General Adam Laxalt raised $1.3 million as an active gubernatorial candidate over the final two months of 2017 and ended the year with $3 million cash on hand, according to figures obtained by POLITICO Campaign Pro." Full story.

- Sherrod Brown raises $2.6M, has $9.8M on hand: "Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown has $9.8 million in his campaign account heading into his 2018 reelection bid after raising $2.6 million in the last quarter of 2017, his campaign said today. Brown reported $8.2 million on hand at the end of the third quarter of last year." Full story.

- Morrisey raises $737,000 in fourth quarter: "West Virginia state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey raised $737,000 for his Senate bid in the fourth quarter of 2017 and now has more than $1.1 million on hand, his campaign said today." Full story.

- Michigan Senate: Sen. Debbie Stabenow raised $1.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2017 and has about $8 million cash on hand.

- FIRST IN SCORE - TX-07: Democrat Alex Triantaphyllis raised $260,000 last quarter, finishing the year with $630,000 in cash on hand.

- AZ-02: Democrat Ann Kirkpatrick raised $400,000 in the fourth quarter, finishing the year with $460,000 in cash on hand.

- CA-45: Democrat Brian Forde raised $300,000 last quarter, ending the year with $550,000 in cash on hand.

- KS-03: Republican Rep. Kevin Yoder raised $500,000 last quarter, ending the year with $1.7 million in cash on hand.

- NY-19: Democrat Antonio Delgado raised $430,000 last quarter, bringing his cash on hand total to nearly $1.5 million.

- PA-01: Democrat Nina Ahmad, who's challenging Rep. Bob Brady in a primary, has $560,000 in cash on hand, including a personal loan.

- WA-08: Democrat Kim Schrier raised $320,000 last quarter.

TOP-TIER RACES - DCCC adds 7 candidates to 'Red to Blue' list: "The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee added seven House challengers to its 'Red to Blue' list, a program that indicates the committee's top-tier candidates in GOP-held districts. ...The new candidates include: Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (FL-26), Dean Phillips (MN-03), [Brad] Ashford (NE-02), Kathy Manning (NC-13), Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11), Max Rose (NY-11) and [Ben] McAdams (UT-04)." Full story.

NEW FACES - Madison mayor running for Wisconsin governor: "Madison Mayor Paul Soglin announced his candidacy for governor of Wisconsin today, adding his name to more than a dozen candidates already running in the Democratic primary to challenge Gov. Scott Walker," Campaign Pro reported.

PRIMARY PROBLEMS - "Local GOP forum nixed over invite to candidate with alleged white nationalist views," via Fox News' Joseph Weber: "A weekend forum for Republican House candidates in central Pennsylvania was cancelled Wednesday amid backlash over an invitation extended to a candidate with alleged white nationalist views. The invitation was extended to Sean M. Donahue by the Dauphin County Council of Republican Women, in the 11th District race for the seat of retiring GOP Rep. Lou Barletta. A representative for the group told Fox News the event was cancelled, without elaborating." Full story.

REMEMBER HIM? - "Gold Star father attacked by Trump steps up role in Dem primaries," by The Hill's Lisa Hagen: "Khizr Khan has so far backed several Democrats running in must-win House races. In an interview with The Hill, Khan said that he's motivated by events like the fatal violence at a white supremacist rally last August in Charlottesville, Va. ... Khan plans to attend fundraisers and help candidates at campaign events. He said he's met with the DCCC and will make future endorsements as national Democrats start to coalesce around more candidates." Full story.

WEB WARS - Wisconsin's Walker is releasing a new digital ad for his reelection campaign focused on education and the state's budget. The ad features Walker talking directly into the camera. Watch it here. The ad is the first in a series Walker's team plans to run online and on various social media platforms.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I know he doesn't like me. But who cares? He's not running. He's saying that I'm not going to last more than a month. That I'll leave. Well what about him leaving? He didn't have the guts to face the people to get reelected." - Sheriff Joe Arpaio on Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake, POLITICO reported.

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