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By Theodoric Meyer | 12/12/2016 10:00 AM EDT


With Scott Bland 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)

SATURDAY RUNOFF - "Kennedy keeps Louisiana Senate seat in GOP hands," by Campaign Pro's Kevin Robillard: "Republican John Kennedy won Louisiana's Senate runoff Saturday night, capturing the seat he sought as a Democrat in 2004 and cementing a GOP Senate majority of 52 seats for the beginning of President-elect Donald Trump's administration." With all precincts reporting, Kennedy led Democrat Foster Campbell 61 percent to 39 percent, according to The Associated Press. "Retiring GOP Sen. David Vitter left his seat open, two terms after defeating a field that included Kennedy, who was then a Democrat. Kennedy, Louisiana's state treasurer, also ran for Senate four years later after becoming a
Republican, losing to then-Sen. Mary Landrieu. Vitter lost his bid for governor of Louisiana in 2015 and announced shortly after that he would not seek reelection this year." Full story.

- Higgins wins LA-03 runoff: Republican Clay Higgins won the general election runoff in Louisiana on Saturday, defeating fellow Republican Scott Angelle 56 percent to 44 percent in the deeply conservative district. Higgins, a former St. Landry Parish Sheriff's Office captain who resigned rather than temper his controversial "Crime Stoppers" videos, beat Angelle despite being heavily outraised. He'll replace GOP Rep. Charles Boustany, who ran for Senate but did not advance to Saturday's runoff in that race. Angelle's House loss follows a failed gubernatorial bid in 2015.

- Johnson wins LA-04 runoff: GOP state Rep. Mike Johnson won the general election runoff in Louisiana's 4th District on Saturday night, defeating Democrat Marshall Jones 65 percent to 35 percent. Johnson will replace GOP Rep. John Fleming, who ran for Senate but did not advance to the runoff for that race. The result was not a surprise - the district is strongly conservative.

SPECIAL ELECTION ON THE HORIZON? - "Heitkamp tops Trump's list for agriculture secretary," by POLITICO's Josh Dawsey, Andrew Restuccia and Jenny Hopkinson: Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota "has emerged as President-elect Donald Trump's leading choice for agriculture secretary, sources close to the transition tell POLITICO. ... A special election to replace Heitkamp would almost certainly turn her seat over to a Republican, so the choice would give Trump a chance to appear conciliatory to Democrats, albeit with a lower-profile Cabinet role, while allowing the GOP to bolster its Senate majority."

- Losing Heitkamp's seat would increase Republicans' majority in the Senate to 53 seats and further diminish Democrats' already-bleak chances of retaking the chamber in 2018. But it "remains unclear whether Heitkamp would accept the job. Democrats are hoping she'll turn it down. 'I don't think she's going anywhere,' former North Dakota Sen. Byron Dorgan, a Democrat, told POLITICO." Full story.

Days until the 2017 election: 330.

Days until the 2018 election: 694.

Thanks for joining us. You can email tips to the whole Campaign Pro team at sbland@politico.com, eschneider@politico.com, krobillard@politico.com, tmeyer@politico.com and mseverns@politico.com.

You can also follow those of us who aren't still on post-election vacation (cough, Elena Schneider, cough) on Twitter: @politicoscott, @ec_schneider, @politicokevin, @theodoricmeyer and @maggieseverns.

DOING SOMETHING? SAY SOMETHING - Starting or joining a new consulting firm? Got work to tout from your current firm? Get in touch, and we'll get it in Score: tmeyer@politico.com.

SPECIAL ELECTION UPDATE - "John Pérez drops out of House race to replace Becerra," by POLITICO California's David Siders: "John A. Pérez, citing a newly diagnosed health condition, on Saturday dropped out of the Southern California race to replace Xavier Becerra in the House. His announcement came just over a week after Gov. Jerry Brown selected Becerra for state attorney general, touching off frenzied maneuvering among Los Angeles-area Democrats seeking the soon-to-be-open seat. Pérez, a former state Assembly speaker, appeared to be the frontrunner, with endorsements from U.S. Sen.-elect Kamala Harris, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio
Villaraigosa, among others. Pérez, 47, declined to disclose his health condition but said rumors that he suffered a heart attack are false." Full story.

- Here's the latest on the races to fill the seats of the members Trump has said he will nominate: In Alabama, GOP state Attorney General Luther Strange plans to run to replace Sen. Jeff Sessions, AL.com reports. GOP Rep. Mo Brooks and state Sens. Brewbaker, Del Marsh, Arthur Orr, Trip Pittman and Cam Ward are considering runs, as is former state Rep. Perry Hooper. In GA-06, GOP state Sen. Judson Hill is running to fill Rep. Tom Price's safely Republican seat, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Other potential contenders: state Sen. Brandon Beach, state Rep. Chuck Martin and former Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel, all Republicans. And in KS-04, former GOP Rep. Todd Tiahrt is
considering another run to reclaim the seat he vacated in 2010 to run for Senate, The Wichita Eagle reports. (Tiahrt challenged Rep. Mike Pompeo, whom Trump has said he will nominate as CIA director, in the primary in 2014 but lost badly.)

THEN WE CAME TO THE END - "The Field Poll is shutting down after 70 years of charting political highs and lows," by The Sacramento Bee's Christopher Cadelago: "The Field Poll, which for more than a half-century has been the gold standard for public opinion research, is ceasing operations Friday, leaving behind a fabled track record of accurately reflecting the highs and lows of California's biggest players and issues. Field's closure, announced by poll director Mark DiCamillo, comes less than two years after the death of Mervin Field, who founded the surveying firm after working for Gallup and serving in the U.S. Merchant Marine during World War II. Field operated continuously since 1947 as
an independent, nonpartisan opinion poll service, and has issued tens of thousands of reports. In an interview Thursday, DiCamillo, who spent 38 years at Field, said the poll's chief underwriter, the France-based multinational advertising and public relations company Havas, recently informed him that the polling company would no longer be part of its future." Full story.

- DCCC announces more senior staff appointments: The DCCC has announced several more senior staff appointments, a day after the committee tapped Dan Sena as its next executive director. Aaron Trujillo, currently a senior adviser to DCCC Chairman Ben Ray Luján, will become the committee's chief of staff. Meredith Kelly, currently the DCCC's national press secretary, will stay on for the 2018 election cycle as communications director. Jackie Forte-Mackay will remain as the group's chief financial officer.

PERSONNEL MOVES - RGA names deputy executive director and policy director: The Republican Governors Association is promoting Janel Broderick to deputy executive director and Brian Sanderson to policy director as it gears up for the 2017 and 2018 election cycles. Broderick was the policy director during the 2015-2016 cycle. Sanderson, who will also lead the Republican Governors Public Policy Committee, a nonprofit affiliated with the RGA, previously worked as a senior adviser and general counsel for that group.

PRESIDENTIAL SPEED READ - "Trump to inherit state-run TV network with expanded reach," by POLITICO's Tara Palmeri: President-elect Donald Trump is about to inherit a newly empowered Voice of America that some officials fear could serve as an unfettered propaganda arm for the former reality TV star who has flirted for years with launching his own network. Buried on page 1,404 of the National Defense Authorization Act that passed last week is a provision that would disband the bipartisan board of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, the independent U.S. agency that includes Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, Radio Free Asia, and the Middle East Broadcast Networks. The move - pushed by House
Foreign Affairs Chairman Ed Royce as a way to streamline the agency - concentrates control into a powerful CEO that is appointed by the president." Full story.

- "Biden refuses to rule out 2020 run," by Campaign Pro's Theodoric Meyer: Vice President Joe Biden has once again refused to rule out running for president in 2020. 'Four years is a lifetime in American politics,' Biden said in a pretaped interview with host Jake Tapper that aired Sunday on CNN's 'State of the Union.' 'And I think nominees are determined by their parties based mostly on what skill set is most needed at that time. And who knows where we're going to be two years from now, when people are really starting to look seriously at what they're going to do.'" Full story.

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "We're 5 wks from Inauguration & the President Elect is completely unhinged. The electoral college must do what it was designed for." - Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), whose tweet made him the second congressman to call for the Electoral College to reject President-elect Donald Trump. (Hat tip: @kyledcheney.)

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