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By Kyle Cheney

With James Hohmann

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. (
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STARRING ROLES - Montana's Bullock edges closer to top job at DGA: Montana Gov. Steve Bullock is the front-runner to lead the Democratic Governors Association in 2015, after which he's likely to be followed by Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy, several Democratic sources told POLITICO yesterday. Bullock is on track to win the critical post a year before he's preparing to fight for his own reelection. The Democratic governors are gathering early next month to vote for new leaders. The next chair will preside during a cycle that includes 2015 races in Kentucky, Louisiana and Mississippi. If elected, Bullock will succeed Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin as chair.
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- Score sat down with Bullock back in July in Nashville, where governors had gathered for an NGA meeting. At the time, Bullock suggested that policy "successes" in states led by Democratic governor's could lead to "some real important pickups" for the party in gubernatorial races this year. Aside from Pennsylvania, though, the party largely flopped, losing competitive bids in Florida, Wisconsin, Maine and Michigan.

- RGA nears consensus on Haslam as next leader: POLITICO's Alexander Burns and Jake Sherman, who's reporting from Boca Raton, Fla., write that Gov. Bill Haslam of Tennessee is the likely GOP pick to head the organization next cycle. His selection would give the group a softer edge, following a year with Gov. Chris Christie at the helm. "Haslam's ascent is not merely a matter of winning by default, however: National Republican leaders attribute his emergence as a dark-horse candidate for the chairmanship as an unintended consequence of the earnest, no-drama approach that makes him such a surprising selection for the job," the pair reports.
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WHAT IT MEANS: Shumlin and Christie are hard-charging and occasionally brash leaders, contributing in some ways to a harsh tone taken by both organizations in often-withering ad campaigns. There's no reason to think that'll change under the new regimes - but if Bullock and Haslam are elected, they'll both seem out of place in the increasingly bitter and partisan warfare of modern campaigns. What's striking about the pair is how much they have in common, in addition to their aw-shucks demeanors. Both govern red states carried handily by Mitt Romney in 2012. They both avoid overly harsh partisan rhetoric and play up their efforts to work with political opponents and compromise. Both support
and have pursued versions of Obamacare's Medicaid expansion (though neither has gotten it past his state's GOP lawmakers). And both have three kids.

BREAKING THIS MORNING - Kelly Ward gets another round as DCCC executive director: New chairman Rep. Ben Ray Luján announced Ward's appointment in a statement that noted she's the first top staffer at the committee to lead it in back to back cycles. "Kelly Ward brings infectious energy, unrivaled determination and key strategic insights to her job, and I am so pleased that she has agreed to stay on at the DCCC," Luján said. The University of Arizona grad has overseen redistricting efforts, managed a Senate campaign in Massachusetts and earned a master's from Harvard University.

With 2014 contests nearly in the books and 2016 politics ramping up in Wisconsin, here's POLITICO's Morning Score: your daily guide to the 2014 midterms.

Days until the Louisiana runoff: 16; Days until the Iowa caucuses: 415; Days until the 2016 election: 719

Thanks for joining us. We're eager for your news and feedback. Email us at
mailto:kcheney@politico.com
kcheney@politico.com or find us on Twitter at @
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kyledcheney .

UNFINISHED BUSINESS - Updates from the 2014 remainders: The last two uncalled races in California ended last night with Democrats prevailing in each. The only race left is Arizona's 2nd Congressional District contest, which appears destined for a runoff. The latest developments:

CA-7: Rep. Ami Bera sealed his win over Republican Doug Ose, capturing a second term after a fresh round of counting doubled his lead to more than 1,400 votes. Ose led on Election Day but Bera gained steadily in subsequent counts and ultimately surge ahead.

CA-16: Rep. Jim Costa officially won reelection Wednesday, as a fresh round of ballot counting in Fresno County padded his slim lead by another 600 votes. The AP called the race for Costa, who now leads Republican Johnny Tacherra by about 1,300 votes.

2016 WATCH - "Scott Walker steps up presidential planning," by POLITICO's James Hohmann: "Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, pivoting from his bigger-than-expected reelection win this month, is taking active steps toward a presidential campaign that would launch next summer and contrast his record of conservative achievements in a swing state with paralysis in Washington. In interviews this week, Walker and his top political advisers provided the fullest account yet of his plans for the likely rollout of a national campaign. The 47-year-old Republican intends to use an upcoming legislative session in Wisconsin to push an ambitious agenda that could, in combination with his triumphs over Big
Labor, bolster his standing with Republican primary voters: Repealing unpopular Common Core standards, requiring drug tests for welfare beneficiaries and cutting property taxes."

-"I think there's going to be a hunger for a leader who can actually can get things done," Walker said by phone Wednesday, even as he cautioned that he hasn't firmly decided to run.
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POLL POSITION - Bloomberg Politics is teaming with the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at St. Anselm College to start providing blanket coverage of the 2016 presidential race. The partnership was announced by Purple Strategies, which is conducting an early poll of the crucial primary state:
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"De Blasio unveils 101-member DNC host committee," by Capital New York's Sally Goldenberg: "Mayor Bill de Blasio has named banking and business executives as well as real estate bigwigs and labor leaders to the host committee he's assembled as part of the city's effort to host the 2016 Democratic National Convention. The banking executives on the 101-person committee announced earlier Wednesday include C.E.O.s Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase, Lloyd Blankfein of Goldman Sachs and Raymond McGuire, global head of corporate and investment banking at Citigroup."

- Other notable names: CBS boss Les Moonves, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and Ursula Burns of Xerox.
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ACROSS THE MAP - Quick takes from races across the country:

SENATE-

Louisiana runoff: Sen. Tim Scott will headline a Sunday early vote rally in Louisiana for Republican Senate candidate Bill Cassidy. The noon Central rally will take place at Warehouse No. 1 Restaurant in Monroe. Scott just won a full-term, making him the first elected African-American senator from the South since Reconstruction.

HOUSE -

NV-03: The Las Vegas Sun dissects the failed candidacy of Erin Bilbray,aonce promising Democratic contender who was ultimately crushed by Republican Rep. Joe Heck.
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GOVERNOR -

- The Wall Street Journal reports that the big-name governors considering a 2016 presidential bid are still relative unknowns outside their home states:
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CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "The closer I've gotten to this position, the more I've realized that anyone who really wants to be president has to be a little crazy ... The only way you should run is if you feel called to." - Gov. Scott Walker to POLITICO's James Hohmann.

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