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By Steven Shepard

With Kyle Cheney, Theodoric Meyer 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://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6ba17cb42d211b3490a9812ac65c2690eeefb6467ff0a25567d71054a51d020f
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6ba17cb42d211b3490a9812ac65c2690eeefb6467ff0a25567d71054a51d020f )

TALE OF TWO LAUNCHES - Two conservative congressmen entered Senate races in their respective states last week: Florida Rep. Ron DeSantis, who jumped into the race to replace Sen. Marco Rubio on Wednesday, and Indiana Rep. Marlin Stutzman, who announced he's running to succeed Sen. Dan Coats in an event on Saturday afternoon (
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6ba17cb42d211b344d31572bfdd25bca347432470c0253d89f2e2ff08b523538
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6ba17cb42d211b344d31572bfdd25bca347432470c0253d89f2e2ff08b523538 ). DeSantis (95-percent lifetime rating from the Club for Growth) and Stutzman (93-percent lifetime rating) have both been the darlings of conservative groups and figure to occupy the same space in their respective primary battles.

- But not so fast. Pro analysis:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6ba17cb42d211b34159bfce4589a9a12e54b36946a69271ba5469558afdf4edc
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6ba17cb42d211b34159bfce4589a9a12e54b36946a69271ba5469558afdf4edc

FINAL WEEK IN KENTUCKY - Eight days until Bluegrass State Republicans go to the polls to choose their gubernatorial nominee, and the news is still dominated by allegations of domestic abuse against state Agriculture Commissioner James Comer leveled by a former college girlfriend. The candidates will debate tonight on public television in the state at 8 p.m. Here are the latest developments:

- A former roommate of Comer's accuser, Marilyn Thomas, said Friday she saw Comer emotionally abuse Thomas but didn't witness a physical assault. "I have no political agenda and I seek only to validate Marilyn Thomas's accusations due to Jamie Comer's adamant denial of the truth," Jennifer Osborne told the Louisville Courier-Journal.
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6ba17cb42d211b344e18dc53a8ac86931cffd9b80381ccbc03d0ed951e85680c
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6ba17cb42d211b344e18dc53a8ac86931cffd9b80381ccbc03d0ed951e85680c

- The Comer camp pushed back, with Comer's wife, T.J., writing an op-ed for the Courier-Journal, titled "I Know Jamie Comer," that described the paper's reporting in the case as "venomous lies."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6ba17cb42d211b34a6eca7f86dd9a545d67fcb1479fb4afe81b81e8216c8713d
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6ba17cb42d211b34a6eca7f86dd9a545d67fcb1479fb4afe81b81e8216c8713d

- A new automated poll conducted for a Democratic super PAC by Public Policy Polling released on Friday showed Comer at 28 percent, with self-funding businessman Hal Heiner just one point behind, and 2014 Senate candidate Matt Bevin at 25 percent.
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6ba17cb42d211b345601fcbb7cb4702625bd7c17d7cadcd69c1e03d9dac965e6
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6ba17cb42d211b345601fcbb7cb4702625bd7c17d7cadcd69c1e03d9dac965e6

- In a new mailer, Comer is linking Heiner to President Barack Obama, the Courier-Journal reports.
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6ba17cb42d211b3409517ea8ccaa99ee4970062b4d30302aaa08cef12b7f2a34
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6ba17cb42d211b3409517ea8ccaa99ee4970062b4d30302aaa08cef12b7f2a34

- The Cincinnati Enquirer endorsed Bevin. They wrote that they don't think the allegations against Comer are disqualifying at this point, but they dinged Heiner for his associations with people spreading the story.
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6ba17cb42d211b344c2061ae91756bf3d0b84ae248f910ac29e3b4f6e97ad3cd
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6ba17cb42d211b344c2061ae91756bf3d0b84ae248f910ac29e3b4f6e97ad3cd

As Crossroads staffs up and the FEC breaks down, here's Campaign Pro's Morning Score: daily news, notes and essential information for the 2015 and 2016 election cycles.

Days until the 2015 election: 176; Days until the 2016 election: 547.

Thanks for joining us; I'll be your guide to this week in politics. Email us at
mailto:sshepard@politico.com
sshepard@politico.com , find us on Twitter at @
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6ba17cb42d211b3459d928d01cf169ad398a64420ef8d8c947a7f6a3bdec11e8
POLITICO_Steve , or just look for the guy in the Rangers jersey (sorry, Caps fans).

PRESCRIPTION PULSE: NOW LIVE FROM POLITICO PRO - We've created a team of reporters devoted exclusively to covering the policy and politics behind the complex and rapidly changing pharmaceutical sector. Prescription Pulse, our new weekly newsletter, delivers in-depth coverage of drug policy and regulation - key concerns of the industry that has the largest lobbying presence in D.C. Sign up now:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6ba17cb42d211b34c36e74fe19a7cff67dc02bba4a17d1c566d2aecd8ead9cdd
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6ba17cb42d211b34c36e74fe19a7cff67dc02bba4a17d1c566d2aecd8ead9cdd .

FIRST IN SCORE: CROSSROADS HIRES NRCC'S PRIOR, NRSC'S GODOY: Republican super PAC American Crossroads has hired the NRCC's Ian Prior as communications director and the NRSC's Brittany Godoy as finance director. Prior has worked as the northeast regional press secretary and national press secretary for the committee, while Godoy worked as deputy finance director during the NRSC's highly successful 2014 campaign. Crossroads is also bringing on Sean Philbin, previously of the NRSC, as research director and strategic communications advisor and the RSLC's Grace Eberhart as deputy finance director. The group is promoting Kelly Nallen to deputy political director, adding it to her role as digital
director.

- Crossroads President Steven Law said in a statement: "After a very successful 2014 cycle, American Crossroads is gearing up for the 2016 election by bringing on talented rising stars to lead our Finance, Communications, and Research teams, as well as promoting from within. This is a great team to take the organization into the most important election in our group's history."

SCORE INTERVIEW - Democrat preps NY-01 run: Democrat Dave Calone, a businessman and former federal prosecutor, announced that he'd challenge freshman GOP Rep. Lee Zeldin for his seat in New York's 1st District, on the eastern end of Long Island. Campaign Pro's Theo Meyer caught up with him on Friday. For subscribers:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6ba17cb42d211b34159bfce4589a9a12e54b36946a69271ba5469558afdf4edc
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6ba17cb42d211b34159bfce4589a9a12e54b36946a69271ba5469558afdf4edc

JUSTICE LEAGUE - Billionaire Jim Justice appears ready to jump into the West Virginia governor's race. Justice, a Democrat, has scheduled an event on his political future for this afternoon in White Sulphur Springs, near The Greenbrier resort, which he owns, MetroNews reports. Justice has invited hundreds of friends to the 3:30 p.m. gathering.
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6ba17cb42d211b34422d6391dad2209d6f90a2d485e33b2bed1a8fe837f49a8a
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6ba17cb42d211b34422d6391dad2209d6f90a2d485e33b2bed1a8fe837f49a8a

- Justice has donated to both Democratic and Republican candidates and groups, the Charleston Sunday Gazette-Mail reported.
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6ba17cb42d211b344c7bce53a2a689da19cbe49f717c19154514218a31a976f6
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6ba17cb42d211b344c7bce53a2a689da19cbe49f717c19154514218a31a976f6

- GOP state Senate President Bill Cole said Friday he will decide on the race in the next two weeks.
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6ba17cb42d211b34e0eaac43860f64e5043a8733ee1971fe6acf79d419fcf675
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6ba17cb42d211b34e0eaac43860f64e5043a8733ee1971fe6acf79d419fcf675

FOREIGN AFFAIRS - The pre-election polling failure in Britain last week is raising questions about whether it can happen here in 2016. Like U.S. pollsters, survey researchers across the pond were coping with questions about telephone-vs.-Internet, their voter screens and question wording. My report with POLITICO's Jonathan Topaz:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6ba17cb42d211b34573432158e7474af7c885c6011f7749286ab1cb02fa7eade
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6ba17cb42d211b34573432158e7474af7c885c6011f7749286ab1cb02fa7eade

2016 SPEED READ -

- "Letter from 2016: Waiting for Jeb to jump," by POLITICO's Glenn Thrush: "It wasn't clear at the time, but is increasingly so now that Jeb Bush's decision last December to signal, but not formally announce, his candidacy was a short-term logistical masterstroke befitting his family's reputation for mastering the mechanics of elections. His undeclared status has freed him to raise what aides are saying will be as much as $100 million from rich patrons and outside groups (the second he files presidential paperwork, he's prevented from requesting big super PAC checks) - and it has temporarily shielded him from being the target of shots many of his would-be opponents are leveling at Hillary
Clinton. ... This inversion - building a campaign on the back of a super PAC instead of vice versa - is novel and could be a model for the future, but it also puts a lot of pressure on an opaque candidate who publicly has done little more than a set of sporadic, low-octane speeches with few specifics to offer. Given his fundraising focus, he's already dogged by the notion, eagerly pushed by his enemies among the party's tea party hardliners, that he's a bankroll in search of a soul."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6ba17cb42d211b34f4300cee706250cd565b0e5f52cbd14484eec9d6f70fe2e3
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6ba17cb42d211b34f4300cee706250cd565b0e5f52cbd14484eec9d6f70fe2e3

- "Inside the 'Clinton Cash' war room," by POLITICO's Annie Karni: "[A]ides point to the handling of the "Clinton Cash" threat - a still-unfolding stream of allegations involving the Clinton Foundation and its donors, but one that seems not to have seriously altered perceptions of Hillary - as proof of the campaign's ability to manage messaging and counter the inevitable blowback of an 18-month campaign."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6ba17cb42d211b34e3ec80639fba2544c5612d7ea9a506c543c925183663486f
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6ba17cb42d211b34e3ec80639fba2544c5612d7ea9a506c543c925183663486f

- "At Liberty University, Jeb Bush urges Christians to defend religious freedom," by the Richmond Times-Dispatch's Andrew Cain: "Jeb Bush ... reached out to evangelicals Saturday at Liberty University in Lynchburg, telling graduates that Christians must defend religious freedom. ... Bush did not specifically refer to the Indiana controversy Saturday at Liberty, but he urged Christians to defend their right to profess and practice their faith. 'Fashionable opinion - which these days can be a religion all by itself - has got a problem with Christians and their right of conscience,' Bush said. 'That makes it our problem, and the proper response is a forthright defense of the first freedom in
our Constitution.'"
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6ba17cb42d211b345b9a4805a783a8935aae9c9dae3479515224047579406091
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6ba17cb42d211b345b9a4805a783a8935aae9c9dae3479515224047579406091

- "Pulling Levers as a Relative of the Clintons," by The New York Times' Steve Eder: "On and off for two decades, the affable [Tony] Rodham has tried to use his connections with his sister and his brother-in-law, former President Bill Clinton, to further a business career that has seen more failures than successes. The connections to the Clintons have given Mr. Rodham, a self-described 'facilitator,' a unique appeal and a range of opportunities, like addressing Chinese investor conferences and joining an advisory board of a company seeking permission to mine for gold in Haiti. But his business dealings have often invited public scrutiny and uncomfortable questions for the Clintons as Mr.
Rodham has cycled through a variety of ventures, leveraging his ties to them and sometimes directly seeking their help."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6ba17cb42d211b34ecb9f56f7627b0ca51b97f855eace35010d931d5fe7a866a
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6ba17cb42d211b34ecb9f56f7627b0ca51b97f855eace35010d931d5fe7a866a

- Saint Anselm/Bloomberg Politics New Hampshire poll, conducted by Purple Insights: GOP primary: Paul 12, Walker 12, Bush 11, Rubio 11, Trump 8, Christie 7, Cruz 6, Carson 5, Huckabee 4, Fiorina 3, others 1 or less. Toplines (.pdf):
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6ba17cb42d211b34146c126138803eb74700b2cb5b383b3523f7107c522b9b5e
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6ba17cb42d211b34146c126138803eb74700b2cb5b383b3523f7107c522b9b5e

DIVISION AT THE FEC - Republican FEC commissioners continue to fight back against Ravel's PR offensive: On the heels of FEC Chairwoman Ann Ravel's recent media tour - which included stories in the New York Times (
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6ba17cb42d211b34bb4af20889345c41201080e287ccb0fee4b61fce66bbdf3c
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6ba17cb42d211b34bb4af20889345c41201080e287ccb0fee4b61fce66bbdf3c ) and POLITICO (
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6ba17cb42d211b34e41ef3d06d716a59988704985d4820c6ec73744bb5b38582
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6ba17cb42d211b34e41ef3d06d716a59988704985d4820c6ec73744bb5b38582 ), the commission's three Republicans are countering. On Friday, they co-authored a letter to the editor of the Times, saying they were "disappointed" in some of Ravel's comments and ready to seek common ground on issues like updating disclosure forms (
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6ba17cb42d211b34784c525e1554d4ef6e1702468ab1b39c53a6f4419a67f3de
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6ba17cb42d211b34784c525e1554d4ef6e1702468ab1b39c53a6f4419a67f3de ). And now GOP Commissioner Lee Goodman pens an op-ed for POLITICO Magazine with this provocative lede: "For over a year ... Ravel has travelled around the country campaigning against the very agency she now chairs."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6ba17cb42d211b3482f73e0e2c169778df2f403fc8a07d150e664187c6dc157c
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6ba17cb42d211b3482f73e0e2c169778df2f403fc8a07d150e664187c6dc157c

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "We don't worry about those kinds of things." - Rep. Rod Blum (R-Iowa), asked by the Dubuque Telegraph Herald about being named Campaign Pro's most-vulnerable House incumbent.
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6ba17cb42d211b344711f6007da7a48d5ed1433e9143663ffe749432eb62f3ef
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=6ba17cb42d211b344711f6007da7a48d5ed1433e9143663ffe749432eb62f3ef


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