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By Kyle Cheney

With Steven Shepard, Tarini Parti and Darren Samuelsohn

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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GOP MONEYMEN PUSH IMMIGRATION REFORM: It's a huge divide in the Republican Party: The GOP donor community believes that only Republican presidential hopefuls who embrace immigration reform stand a chance at winning the presidency in 2016 - and embracing immigration reform is necessary for the party's long-term health - top Republican donors and fundraisers Mike Fernandez, Andrew Puzder, and Spencer Zwick told reporters in a conference call organized by Partnership for a New American Economy Tuesday afternoon. "This isn't just the right issue. It's a smart issue. It's a winning issue," said Zwick, who served as Romney for President's national finance chairman in 2012, when the former
Massachusetts governor called for "self-deportation" as his immigration stance.

-- He also said that 'if someone wants to be taken seriously running for president, they need to be in a similar place" as Jeb Bush. Fernandez, Puzder and Zwick also blamed President Barack Obama for the lack of action on the issue, arguing that by acting without Congress, he has made it harder for the parties to come to a compromise. 'This is an issue Democrats want to keep alive,' Puzder said, pointing to the political advantage it gives the party.

Q POLL - New 2016 numbers in Colorado, Iowa, Virginia: Likely Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton looks like the favorite to capture Iowa's six electoral votes, new data from Quinnipiac University show. But in Colorado and Virginia, the race is likely to be closer, with Bush, Rand Paul and Scott Walker running stronger than the rest of the GOP field.
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FIRST IN SCORE - DCCC gets 2016 cycle going with 'Downton Abbey'-themed Schock hit: The Democratic Congressional campaign arm's foray into 2016 electioneering is a mailer that will reach thousands of voters in GOP Rep. Aaron Schock's central Illinois district. "Congressman Schock's luxurious Downton Abbey-inspired office may impress royalty, but it's outrageous that he makes taxpayers pay for him to live like a king," the mailer reads, against an image of Schock in his Downton Abbey-themed office with a crown superimposed on his head. Schock made recent headlines when his office decor - and its cost - was revealed. Mitt Romney won 61 percent of the vote in Illinois' 18th District in 2012.
The mailer:
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As Gov. Cuomo gets elbowed by a judge and Rahm nears the magic number, here's POLITICO's Morning Score: daily news, notes and essential information for the 2015 and 2016 election cycles.

Days until the 2015 election: 258; Days until the 2016 election: 629

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 .

DEM SENATE FIELD SHAPING UP - Strickland "testing the waters" but moves signal intent to run: First, the Youngstown Vindicator reported that former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland had activated his old fundraising network (
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=f21f3c688ce45dbf194f51101440154b088f6fd46f71e33638871869191cc09b
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=f21f3c688ce45dbf194f51101440154b088f6fd46f71e33638871869191cc09b ). Then, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported that he had left the Center for American Progress (
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=f21f3c688ce45dbfc06c0d7116e453a77bae4d5d3fa85791cb146c658363ef1d
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=f21f3c688ce45dbfc06c0d7116e453a77bae4d5d3fa85791cb146c658363ef1d ). Strickland told the latter publication that he's still deciding whether to run, but the moves, combined with increasing chatter about a potential bid from Ohio Democrats, suggests Strickland is all but a declared candidate in the race. That sets him up to run against Cincinnati Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld for the party's nomination.

-- "Wasserman Schultz considering 2016 Senate bid," by POLITICO's Marc Caputo, with Manu Raju: "Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the Democratic National Committee chairwoman, is strongly considering a bid for U.S. Senate, calculating that having Hillary Clinton at the top of the 2016 ticket would help lift her candidacy in a year-of-the-woman campaign. Driving Wasserman Schultz's interest: the increasing likelihood that Sen. Marco Rubio will run for the White House and that he ultimately won't seek reelection in 2016, Democratic insiders familiar with her thinking say. Her office wouldn't discuss her interest in the Senate. "Of course she's considering it: Open Senate seats are pretty
rare," said Andrew Weinstein, a longtime supporter of the Weston congresswoman and a 2012 member of President Obama's national finance team.
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CUOMO CHASTISED IN COURT - Judge wants NY-11 special election set by Friday: A federal judge has ordered New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to set a special election for a vacant House seat by Friday - or justify the delay. In a 42-page ruling that cites the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, Judge Jack Weinstein of the U.S. District Court of Eastern New York, said he would set the date himself if Cuomo refused to comply. The ruling is a win for a group of Staten Island residents that sued the governor to set an immediate election to succeed former GOP Rep. Michael Grimm, who resigned Jan. 5 after pleading guilty to felony tax evasion. Although state law allows Cuomo to set a
special election anytime he chooses, he's declined to offer a timetable in the six weeks since Grimm resigned. Weinstein ruled that the open-ended language of the law is not an excuse for delay. "The spirit of the statutory scheme is clear, he wrote. "The announcement of the date for the election should occur almost immediately after the vacancy occurs." The ruling:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=f21f3c688ce45dbfa316d79ed7f41b4df88c033d3f26f8022151fbf4accdbabf
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2016 GOP - "Jeb Bush pushes fundraising efforts," by POLITICO's Tarini Parti: "Snow might have brought Washington to a halt on Tuesday, but it did not affect Jeb Bush's fast-paced fundraising efforts. Bush raised more than $250,000 for his super PAC, Right to Rise, at an event hosted by lobbying firm BGR Group's CEO Lanny Griffith, who worked in former President George H. W. Bush's administration ... At the fundraiser, Bush previewed his speech on foreign policy that he will deliver to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs on Wednesday, according to attendees.
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-- "Former NHGOP Exec Director Andy Leach among two big NH hires by Scott Walker PAC," by NH Journal's John DiStaso: Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has hired two seasoned strategists to head the New Hampshire operations of his pre-campaign leadership PAC, Our American Revival - and one of the two is very familiar to Granite State Republicans. The New Hampshire Journal has learned that former two-time state Republican Party executive director Andy Leach is now a senior adviser for New Hampshire to Walker's political action committee. Also on board to head New Hampshire day-to-day operations, is Michael Bir, who was most recently the political director of the Michigan Republican Party and was
previously the 2010 and 2012 Ohio "Victory" program director for the Republican National Committee.
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=f21f3c688ce45dbfe84b1af0303a08fca0611b0329538617872805e35813c094
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THE NUMBERS - New poll puts Rahm on verge of outright win: A new Chicago Tribune poll out this morning shows Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel closing in on a majority of the vote in next Tuesday's election - though it's far from certain the former White House chief of staff will avoid a runoff and lock up a second term next week. The poll, conducted Feb. 11-15 by Chicago-based APC Research, shows Emanuel at 45 percent, followed by Cook County Commissioner Chuy Garcia at 20 percent. Breaking vote intention down by race, Emanuel leads Garcia among both whites and blacks, though the challenger is ahead among Hispanic voters.
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CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "When he called me in D.C., I didn't recognize his phone number.' - Oregon Gov.-designate Kate Brown, in an interview with The Oregonian, on outgoing Gov. John Kitzhaber's mysterious call while she was traveling in Washington.
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