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By Elena Schneider | 10/27/2016 10:00 AM EDT


With Theodoric Meyer 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)

FINANCIAL TIMES - "GOP closing spending gap with Dems in battle for Senate," by POLITICO's Seung Min Kim and Burgess Everett: "Republicans are quickly narrowing the spending gap with Democrats in a bid to save their Senate majority - aided by a late burst of spending in six battleground states that will determine which party controls the chamber next year. But because Republicans are reserving so late in the cycle, they are getting far less bang for their ad dollars than Democrats who reserved television airtime much earlier in the campaign. All told, Democrats are set to spend about $65.6 million on air in the final two weeks of the 2016 Senate campaign in the six main Senate battleground
states - Pennsylvania, Indiana, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Missouri and Nevada. On the other side, Republicans have $59.2 million in television reservations as of Wednesday afternoon, according to one person tracking media buys." Full story.

LESS THAN SUBTLE - "Clinton money tees up GOP attacks in Missouri," by Campaign Pro's Maggie Severns: "Hillary Clinton's recent show of solidarity with Missouri Democrats is fueling Republican attacks in the state. Clinton is spending $500,000 in Missouri as part of a larger effort to boost down-ballot Democrats, hoping to capture both the White House and Congress in November. But the money quickly became fodder for attacks from Republican Senate and gubernatorial candidates who are eager to tie Democrats to Clinton in two heated statewide elections." Full story.

DIGITAL DOWNLOAD - "GOP Senate groups rack up huge digital spending advantage," by Campaign Pro's Kevin Robillard: "Senate Republican outside groups outspent their Democratic counterparts more than 2 to 1 on digital advertising in the key Senate races through mid-October, part of a concerted GOP strategy to make up ground in the medium during the 2016 elections. A document being circulating among Democratic digital consultants and obtained by POLITICO shows that Republican groups had spent $12.9 million on digital advertising through Oct. 10, compared with just under $5 million spent by Democratic groups. The analysis looked at outside spending in nine Senate races: Florida, Illinois,
Indiana, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The gap appears to be a result of NRSC executive director Ward Baker's fanatical - and occasionally criticized - push to amp up his party's focus on digital advertising." Full story.

- "Campaigns lean on digital to target women voters," by Campaign Pro's Scott Bland: "New survey data from Google suggests digital advertising is particularly effective with women voters - and campaigns and outside groups from both parties are increasingly making online video a major part of efforts to persuade female audiences. Google commissioned online polling from Ipsos in September to study how women consume political advertising. The polling found that 62 percent of female voters said they were likely to see relevant political advertising online, compared to less than half who said the same about TV. And 40 percent of the female respondents said they found online advertising more
persuadable." Full story.

- "Facebook Live spreads through 2016 campaign world," by POLITICO's Sandhya Raman: "Facebook Live has pressed its way into the 2016 election cycle, becoming a key engagement tool for campaigns eager to put their candidates in front of potential supporters unvarnished. ... Senate candidates have been experimenting heavily with Live this year since Facebook's relaunch of the product, tinkering with videos attuned to users' penchant for watching without sound - and worrying about recent revelations that some of Facebook's video engagement statistics have been off-base. 'Facebook Live, I think it's one of the best new tools that is active for campaigns this election cycle,' said GOP digital
strategist Vincent Harris." Full story.

Days until the 2016 election: 12.

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 us on Twitter, where we are now tweeting constantly about campaigns and occasionally about Kesha: @politicoscott, @ec_schneider, @politicokevin, @theodoricmeyer and @maggieseverns.

NEW ON THE AIRWAVES - Guinta debuts check-and-balance ad in NH-01: GOP Rep. Frank Guinta of New Hampshire is out with a new ad portraying both of his opponents as rubber stamps for a President Hillary Clinton. The spot is one of the most direct so-called "check-and-balance" ads to date. "Imagine if Hillary Clinton wins the White House," the ad's narrator says as an image of Clinton appears. "Then what? Liberal Carol Shea-Porter? She'll be a rubber stamp for Clinton's agenda. Progressive Shawn O'Connor? He'll be a rubber stamp, too. And you know their agenda: higher taxes, more government spending and a weaker national defense. Only Frank Guinta will put New Hampshire first." Watch the ad
here.

- Ricketts-founded group ramps up in Nevada and Indiana: "ESAFund, a super PAC founded by the Ricketts family, is ramping up its spending in another key Senate race two weeks out from Election Day, pouring $1 million in TV ads against Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto in Nevada. ... The super PAC is also spending $1 million on attacking Democrat Evan Bayh in Indiana." Full story.

- New pro-Gallagher super PAC ad: The Midwest Growth super PAC, backing Republican Mike Gallagher in WI-08, is out with a new cable TV ad that spoofs the show "Shark Tank," and calls Democrat Tom Nelson a "career politician." Watch the ad here.

** A message from CampaignHQ: CampaignHQ is the best conservative call center in America. Live or automated voter ID, advocacy, and GOTV. We can call cell phones. Known for legendary service & attention to detail. Call 888-722-4704 or email kendall@campaign-headquarters.com. Price quote in 90 seconds. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fec6031f8ae3cb6e3f4054f4e84727e616e8053dfdec222e5aca5d73d2e74088 **

POLL-UP BAR - Kennedy leads field in new Louisiana Senate poll: Republican John Kennedy leads a crowded field of Democrats and Republicans in the jungle primary for Louisiana's Senate race, according to a new independent poll. Kennedy, the state treasurer, leads Democrat Foster Campbell 22 percent to 16 percent among likely voters. GOP Rep. Charles Boustany was in third at 14 percent, democrat Caroline Fayard was in fourth at 12 percent and GOP Rep. John Fleming was in fifth at 9 percent. Republican David Duke, a former Ku Klux Klan leader, languished in eighth place, with just 3 percent support. Full results here.

- Bacon leads in internal GOP poll, via Roll Call: "Retired Brig. Gen. Don Bacon led incumbent Democratic Rep. Brad Ashford 48 to 44 percent among registered voters in a North Star Opinion Research poll. ... The poll was conducted Oct. 22-24 for the Congressional Leadership Fund, the super PAC tied to House GOP leadership. The fund has invested $950,000 on TV and digital in the Omaha-based district," Roll Call reported.

- NY-19 Democratic poll shows Teachout narrowly ahead: "Democrat Zephyr Teachout has a narrow lead over Republican John Faso in the race for an open swing seat in New York's Hudson Valley, according to a new poll conducted for End Citizens United PAC, a Democratic PAC. Teachout leads Faso 44 percent to 41 percent among likely voters. The results are in the same ballpark as previous independent polling of the district showing a tight toss-up race, though these are slightly better for Teachout than the Time Warner Cable News/Siena College poll conducted last month, which found Faso leading 43 percent to 42 percent." Full story.

NEW THIS MORNING - Union talks about Portman endorsement in ad: Ohio Fraternal Order of Police President Jay McDonald talks about why the union chose to endorse GOP Sen. Rob Portman in a new campaign ad. "Ohio's Police officers need a Senator who will have our backs and after examining the candidates records, the FOP endorsed Rob Portman. He's always stood strong for law enforcement and no elected official in America is doing more to fight back against the heroin epidemic than Senator Portman," McDonald says in the ad. Watch the ad here.

- Democrat Maggie Hassan is out with a digital ad that hits Sen. Kelly Ayotte for trying "to have it both ways on Donald Trump," per a memo from the campaign. The ad features local news reports on Ayotte's changing stances on the Republican presidential nominee. Watch the ad here.

DEBATE NIGHT - "Specter of Trump looms large over Rubio-Murphy debate," by POLITICO Florida's Marc Caputo in Davie, Fla.: "Midway through what might be his last U.S. Senate debate with Sen. Marco Rubio, Rep. Patrick Murphy wasn't content to just talk about body cameras and criminal justice reform Wednesday night as the topic turned to minorities and community policing. It was time to talk about Donald Trump. Again. ...'This is now the fifth time. Basically, the answer to every question tonight by Congressman Murphy is Donald Trump,' said Rubio, accusing Murphy of having a platform that was simply 'a noun, a verb and Donald Trump.' But Murphy, who invoked Trump's name within a minute of his
opening remarks, clearly believes the controversial former reality TV star might be the key to toppling his better-funded and better-known Republican opponent, who leads him in the polls." Full story.

- In New Hampshire: "Republican U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte again accused her rival of being a hypocrite about the state budget Tuesday while Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan cast Ayotte as part of a dysfunctional do-nothing Congress. Ayotte and Hassan have been in a tight race for a seat that could help determine control of the Senate. The two faced each other at a debate focused on the economy and small businesses," The Concord Monitor reported.

- In Maryland: "Republican Kathy Szeliga and Democrat Chris Van Hollen clashed over the economy, Obamacare and the polarizing presidential race on Wednesday during what is likely to be the only televised debate in the race to succeed retiring Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski," The Baltimore Sun reported.

- In Indiana: "During Tuesday's gubernatorial debate, key policy differences between Republican Eric Holcomb and Democrat John Gregg emerged. They differ in their thoughts on the economy, the heroin epidemic, pardoning wrongly convicted man Keith Cooper and even Sunday sales. But perhaps the most shocking policy difference came when Gregg tried to engage in a high five," The Indianapolis Star reported.

ON THE GROUND - "Americans for Prosperity's Florida chapter knocked on its millionth door of 2016" on Wednesday. Full story.

PRESIDENTIAL SPEED READ - "Democrats launch early attack on Clinton's 2020 challengers," by POLITICO's Gabriel Debenedetti: "For some Republicans, the end of 2016 can't come soon enough. To some Democrats, that means 2020 is just getting started. Democratic operatives primarily focused on taking down Donald Trump are simultaneously mapping out - and in some cases kicking off - attacks on Republicans likely to challenge Hillary Clinton four years from now. The closing days of 2016, these Democrats say, offer obvious opportunities to hurt Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, House Speaker Paul Ryan, and, perhaps most specifically, Indiana Governor-turned-Trump-running-mate Mike Pence." Full story.

- "Donations to Foundation Vexed Hillary Clinton's Aides, Emails Show," by The New York Times' Steve Eder and Amy Chozick: "In the years before Hillary Clinton announced she would run again for president, her top aides expressed profound concerns in internal emails about how foreign donations to the Clinton Foundation and Bill Clinton's own moneymaking ventures would affect Mrs. Clinton's political future. The emails, obtained by hackers and being gradually released by WikiLeaks this month, also are revealing how efforts to minimize potential conflicts at the foundation led to power struggles and infighting among aides and Mrs. Clinton's family. One top aide to Mr. Clinton, Douglas J. Band,
noted in an email that the former president had received personal income from some foundation donors and 'gets many expensive gifts from them.'" Full story.

- "Donald Trump's favorite pollsters," by POLITICO's Steven Shepard: "When Donald Trump insists that he's winning the presidential election, sometimes he's correct. He's simply cherry-picking the three daily tracking polls that have him jockeying with Hillary Clinton for the lead. ... A joint project between the University of Southern California and the Los Angeles Times reports Trump is in the lead by a single percentage point. Rasmussen Reports, which had Trump leading by 2 points as recently as two weeks ago, now has Clinton 1 point ahead, 44 percent to 43 percent. The polling partnership between Investor's Business Daily and the polling company Technometrica also finds a neck-and-neck
race - the latest results released Wednesday put Clinton in the lead by 0.6 points. ... And their divergent results have put their unique methods under serious scrutiny." Full story.

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "They finished the project ahead of schedule, under budget, they'll employ anywhere from 600 to 1,000 people, there will be millions of revenue for the taxpayers for years to come and the jackasses in the Democrat committee can't figure it out they're so dumb that all they can do is put out negative crap." - Rep. John Mica after Democrats went after him for his involvement in the new Trump hotel, Morning Consult reported.

** A message from CampaignHQ: "I will never go anywhere else!" - Campaign manager's email to CHQ after winning by 800 votes.

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