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By Elena Schneider | 05/13/2016 10:00 AM EDT


With Kevin Robillard, Theodoric Meyer, Scott Bland

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)

PRIMARY FORAY - "Koch-backed group targets first GOP incumbent in primary," by Campaign Pro's Elena Schneider: "Americans for Prosperity is planning a major expenditure to defeat North Carolina Republican Rep. Renee Ellmers in her June primary, an unprecedented move for the powerful Koch brothers-backed conservative nonprofit, which has never before targeted a GOP member of Congress for primary defeat. ... AFP plans to target voters in Ellmers' district with six-figures worth of advertising, including five to eight separate mailers, as well as digital ads on streaming platforms, like YouTube, Facebook and Hulu, in the four weeks leading up to the June 7 primary. Ellmers faces fellow GOP
Rep. George Holding and two-time Senate candidate Greg Brannon in the Republican race for a newly drawn seat anchored in the Raleigh suburbs, which was created by court-ordered redistricting earlier this year." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=43a22ce96ed07b99e790c423b6e7e61876acf83736bf6125857ea86b21736bc4

- PILING ON - The North Carolina Values Coalition and Susan B. Anthony List, two previous Ellmers backers, announced a joint endorsement of Holding. "Three full-time paid staffers from the organizations are leading an army of canvassers in a ground effort to knock 12,000 doors before primary Election Day, in addition to phones and digital advertising in support of Rep. Holding," according to a statement from the group.

FIRST IN SCORE - TOP TARGETS - DCCC adds 14 races to "Red to Blue" program: The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is adding 14 candidates to its "Red to Blue" program of top open seats and pickup opportunities, giving a better idea of how Democrats view the House map. Most of the candidates are moving up from the DCCC's "Emerging Races" category. The exception is Minnesota state Sen. Terri Bonoff, who recently announced that she'd challenge GOP Rep. Erik Paulsen in MN-03. The DCCC has also chosen sides in two races in which it has previously remained neutral, backing Colleen Deacon over two other Democrats challenging GOP Rep. John Katko of New York, and giving the nod to Charlie
Crist, whose only primary opponent dropped out last week, in Florida's 13th District. The committee is now backing candidates in all but two of the 32 races on its "Red to Blue" list.

- Here's the full list of candidates the DCCC is adding to "Red to Blue": Tom O'Halleran (AZ-01), Michael Eggman (CA-10); Bryan Caforio (CA-25), Charlie Crist (FL-13); Terri Bonoff (MN-03); Denise Juneau (MT-AL); Carol-Shea Porter (NH-01), Kim Myers (NY-22), John Plumb (NY-23), Colleen Deacon (NY-24), Steve Santarsiero (PA-08), Don McEachin (VA-04) and Tom Nelson (WI-08).

ROCKY DAY - Keyser stumbles on signature forgery question in Colorado Senate race: Former GOP state Rep. Jon Keyser refused to answer questions about 10 signatures on his ballot petitions that were allegedly forged during a candidate forum Thursday afternoon. Keyser instead repeated "I'm on the ballot" six times during the exchange with the moderator. "And I'm going to beat Michael Bennet. And I can guarantee you this. The Democrats are doing everything that they can right now to try to derail me from being on the primary ballot. You know what? I'm not going to let them do it," Keyser said.

- But things got really awkward afterwards, when Denver7 reporter Marshall Zelinger approached Keyser with further questions on the signatures. Keyser twice called him "Mitchell," in between repeating, "The important thing is I'm on the ballot." (Keyser also faux-cheerily asked Zelinger if he was "creeping around my house yesterday," and whether he'd met his dog: "He's a great dog. He's bigger than you are. He's huge." Watch the exchange here: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=43a22ce96ed07b99a03626c7dac7bef633ad9c840e3ccca78725736be0814316

Days until the Oregon, Kentucky and Idaho primaries: 4. Days until the 2016 election: 178.

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 tweet a lot about campaigns and occasionally about waiting in line for popcorn: @politicoscott, @ec_schneider, @politicokevin, @theodoricmeyer and @maggieseverns.

NECESSARY EVILS - "Calling it 'disgusting,' congressional candidate no longer fundraising," by POLITICO Florida's Marc Caputo: "Congressional campaign fundraising is such a 'disgusting and appalling' process that multi-millionaire Randy Perkins won't hit up contributors anymore and is refunding donations to anyone who asks. But Perkins, a Democrat who raised $1.3 million in the last financial quarter, said he met unexpected resistance when he offered to return donor money: Many didn't want it back. That's because a number of the businessman's contributors and fundraisers are friends who are independently wealthy - including former Miami Heat basketball star Alonzo Mourning and intellectual
disabilities activist Anthony Shriver, a member of the Kennedy family. Perkins met them over the years by personally serving on charities they ran and donating to causes they championed. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=43a22ce96ed07b99b5cdfd33803bf2a8f585a2f6c72bd652e8bc9fce3cb758f9

FIRST IN SCORE: HILLARY'S "TOXIC," BUT WILL DEMOCRATS SLIP UNDER? - In recent days, Senate Republican operatives have gone out of their way to argue that the GOP isn't the only party with an unpopular potential problem at the top of the ticket. (Senate Leadership Fund President Steven Law said earlier this week that Hillary Clinton has "equal-level potential to negatively impact her side of the ticket" as Donald Trump.) In that vein, the NRSC is out with a new video linking Democrats to Clinton as gleefully their opponents have been tying Republicans to Trump.

- "Democrat Senate candidates need to ask themselves a question: Can they really support Hillary Clinton?" a female narrator asks. "She's a living history of scandal, lies and spin." The ad goes on to cover Clinton's defense of a child rapist and zips through the various scandals of the White House years and her tenure as secretary of State. "Fake accents, fake concerns, fake laughs. Hillary Clinton. She's the living embodiment of everything people hate about politics," the narrator concludes. Watch the ad here: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=43a22ce96ed07b9909f1cf93dc54798ed54018651b4e78ac77c0e5e2bca15fca

DUCKWORTH TRIAL SET FOR AUGUST - An Illinois judge gave GOP Sen. Mark Kirk's campaign a much-needed boost when he ruled a seven-year-old workplace retaliation lawsuit against Rep. Tammy Duckworth, from when she was Director of Veterans' Affairs in the Blagojevich gubernatorial administration, will go to trial before the November elections. The judge dismissed Duckworth's attempt at summary judgment and set a trial date in August, but it's possible the trial could slip until September. The lawsuit is playing a huge role in Republican messaging in the race, and the NRSC has already released a web ad on the topic.

- "There's no doubt Duckworth's record and sacrifice in the military should be respected and honored. But her record as Rod Blagojevich's Director of Veterans' Affairs, however, was one plagued by mismanagement and scandal that endangered the care of Illinois veterans," Kirk campaign manager Kevin Artl said.

- Duckworth spokesman Matt McGrath called the lawsuit "politically motivated" and noted "when it's over Mark Kirk will still be a Trump-supporting Republican who lied about his military record at least 10 times while Tammy Duckworth is a 23-year Veteran of the National Guard who was wounded in combat and has made serving veterans her life's work - with tangible accomplishments."

- FIRST IN SCORE - Kirk attacks Duckworth in tough new TV ad: Kirk is going after Duckworth in a new TV ad tied to a judge's decision to allow a lawsuit against Duckworth to proceed to trial ahead of the election. "Shocking but true," the ad's narrator says. "Duckworth's a war hero. But as [former Illinois Gov.] Blagojevich's veterans director, Duckworth tried to silence whistleblowers who exposed shoddy care for American heroes. Now Duckworth's going to court because she put her political career ahead of our veterans' care. Tammy Duckworth: everything that's wrong with Washington." The ad will start airing as part of a limited buy in Chicago on Sunday, Kirk's campaign manager, Kevin Artl,
wrote in an email, and will also run in heavy rotation online. Watch the ad: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=43a22ce96ed07b99c3c4424a23b5631e40abb979cf05657759b1775ed21f5a8d

STAFFING CHANGES - "Democrat Katie McGinty's Pennsylvania Senate campaign has a new campaign manager - but the man who led her operation to a primary victory isn't leaving the campaign." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=43a22ce96ed07b996925393e7bacc8b2616f67cf177b1281187bddb6309e43fd

PRESIDENTIAL SPEED READ - "Trump campaign eyes #NeverTrump blacklist," by POLITICO's Kenneth P. Vogel and Ben Schreckinger: "As Trump moves to take the reins of the Republican National Committee apparatus, some campaign aides and allies are pushing him to block lucrative party contracts from consultants who worked to keep him from winning the nomination, according to four sources familiar with the discussions. 'The Never Trump vendors and supporters shouldn't be in striking distance of the RNC, any of its committees or anyone working on behalf of Donald Trump,' said a Trump campaign official." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=43a22ce96ed07b9984e5dec73e3bc88f856ad8791f9906d23f94bbfbd89228df

- "'Never (Again) Trump' sets sights on 2020," by POLITICO's Kyle Cheney: "Conservatives, still reeling over the looming nomination of Donald Trump, are pushing new Republican primary rules that might have prevented the mogul's victory in the first place: shutting out independents and Democrats from helping to pick the GOP nominee. Trump romped in 'open primaries' where non-Republicans voted by the thousands and may have influenced the outcome ... Now, Cruz's allies - hundreds of supportive convention delegates that he helped elect - hope to use the national convention in Cleveland to shove states toward closing their open primaries." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=43a22ce96ed07b99fa183557850799c6b3835a46071627f0e872ee07ae78dd05

- "Trump and the artifice of the deal," by POLITICO Magazine's Simon Van Zuylen-Wood: "The inside story of the Grand Hyatt doesn't showcase the vaunted business sense Trump credits with leading him to the threshold of the GOP presidential nomination. Rather, it reveals the crucial role Fred Trump played in getting his son's career off the ground, and keeping it airborne. Without Fred's help, there would be no Hyatt. And without the Hyatt, there would be no Trump Tower, no casinos, no golf courses, no career." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=43a22ce96ed07b99078c55ba0362e4a9bf0f65aa7ab897a88e540b18f7d96a1f

- "Ben Carson Is Trying to Persuade Other Former Rivals to Endorse Donald Trump," by The New York Times' Maggie Haberman and Trip Gabriel: "Ben Carson, one of the earliest former rivals to endorse Donald J. Trump, has a new role, according to a confidant: emissary from Mr. Trump to the remaining holdouts from the Republican primary field. The confidant, Armstrong Williams, said on Thursday that Mr. Carson had been placing calls and 'reaching out to everyone,' and planned to make the case that despite Mr. Trump's insults in the primary race, the party needs to come together." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=43a22ce96ed07b992af0d29823647ec45c75b1de558b198fd09a8e521ec34d8f

- Priorities USA Action, the main pro-Clinton super PAC, and Planned Parenthood are out with a new digital ad today, showing Donald Trump saying he would nominate justices to the Supreme Court who would be "pro-life." Watch "Dangerous Plans" here: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=43a22ce96ed07b99dfb323bfa4f22150c98016f7b2bb88cb0c57bf8ad0de75bc

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "You appeared to have no moral compass," a federal district judge said to Dean Skelos, the former "Republican majority leader of the New York State Senate who was convicted with his son in December on federal corruption charges," during his sentencing hearing. He will serve five years in prison, The New York Times reported. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=43a22ce96ed07b991d70a4e8a5757067d08c2b6bf54669c8d86ce2b409631b46

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