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By Elena Schneider | 03/24/2016 10:00 AM EDT


With Kevin Robillard, Theodoric Meyer and Burgess Everett

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)

MONEY ORDER - "Democrats have momentum but lack money in battle for Senate," by POLITICO's Burgess Everett, Seung Min Kim and Kevin Robillard: Democrats have expanded the Senate map this year, recruiting viable candidates in states no one expected them to compete in such as Arizona and Missouri and arguably positioning themselves to ride an anti-Trump wave to the Senate majority. But there's one big problem: money. Republicans are outspending Democrats in key races so far. There's little indication that Democrats will close the gap as Election Day approaches, and signs the chasm will grow thanks to the longer roster of deep-pocketed outside groups on the right. That's triggered growing
anxiety within the minority party about relinquishing an opening to net the four or five seats they need to recapture the Senate." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=1321b7a7e99ef4f4c2fce672020c9d7fda530192e9b360ac1d02734951fbcd62

TWO STEP - "Down-ballot Democrats' fight to take full advantage of presidential year," by Campaign Pro's Scott Bland: "Democrats looking to claw back some of the 900-plus state legislative seats Republicans have gained since President Barack Obama took office have zeroed in on identifying and educating voters who 'drop off' down-ballot in 2016. While many more Democratic supporters will vote in 2014 than 2016, whether or not the party wins the presidential election, a good number of presidential voters don't vote all the way down the ballot to local offices." DLCC executive director Jessica Post: "The people who drop off are lower-information, lower-turnout people who don't really feel
'credentialed' to vote at the bottom of the ticket. A big thing for us is looking at that segment of voters and ... really making an argument to them, so they have enough information to feel credentialed to vote to the bottom of the ticket." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=1321b7a7e99ef4f4a27603051b9db6d3c529db98f9be425e8a8cb9e212a83d72

- "Utah Democrats see opportunity in local GOP's distaste for Trump," by Campaign Pro's Theodoric Meyer: "Donald Trump suffered his worst defeat yet in Utah Tuesday - and Democrats there are hoping that his rejection by Republican voters might help them win back the state's only competitive House seat, if Trump winds up atop the GOP ticket in November. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=1321b7a7e99ef4f4b81526ff11a574dfe172e998a1a50853d272bab3d3419241

Days until the Alaska, Hawaii, and Washington State Democratic caucuses: 2.

Days until the 2016 election: 229.

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 kcheney@politico.com.

You can also follow us on Twitter, where we tweet a lot about campaigns and occasionally about life imitating art: @politicoscott, @ec_schneider, @politicokevin and @theodoricmeyer.

GETTING THE NOD - DSCC endorses McGinty in Pennsylvania primary: Senate Democrats are intervening in the closely contested Democratic primary in Pennsylvania, throwing their support behind Katie McGinty as they hope to deny former Rep. Joe Sestak the nomination in a critical Senate contest, as Sestak continues to lead in primary polls. General election polls show that Toomey starts as the front-runner in any potential general election matchup. A DSCC spokeswoman declined to comment on strategy when asked if the committee could make independent expenditures ahead of the primary.

- SESTAK GOES ORWELL ON THE DSCC - Responding to the DSCC's endorsement of Katie McGinty, former Rep. Joe Sestak sound out a fundraising missive under the headline "DSCC - power corrupts, but DC power corrupts absolutely."

STAY TUNED - Senate Majority PAC extending New Hampshire ad buy: The Democratic super PAC has started placing a third week of TV ads against GOP Sen. Kelly Ayotte, according to two media buying sources. Stay on the lookout for a new ad popping later this week; Senate Majority PAC has been running this spot linking Ayotte to Donald Trump since March 9. The group has purchased an additional $298,000 on WMUR and $26,000 on WBIN through April 3.

POLLING PULSE ON CALIFORNIA - A third of voters are undecided in Senate race: In a Public Policy Institute of California poll, Democratic Attorney General Kamala Harris leads with 26 percent support, followed by Rep. Loretta Sanchez with 17 percent of support. The two Republican candidates, Tom Del Beccaro and Duf Sundheim, both former chairmen of the state party, have 9 percent and 6 percent, respectively. The bilingual poll surveyed 1,710 prospective voters by phone from March 6 to March 15. It also showed Donald Trump leading the GOP presidential primary 38 percent to Ted Cruz's 19 percent - but the survey still includes Marco Rubio and has a large subsample margin of error. Read the
full results here: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=1321b7a7e99ef4f43d67a63a5936d1b615191692944dadeb44ec426a14c7a893

ONWARD AND ... - Retiring GOP Rep. Candice Miller running for Macomb County Public Works Commissioner: The Michigan Republican, who said she was retiring from Congress last year and had been considered a potential 2018 gubernatorial candidate, announced her next step in a YouTube video (h/t Jake Sherman). She joins Democratic Rep. Janice Hahn in leaving Congress to run for a county-level office (Hahn is seeking a seat on Los Angeles County's board of supervisors). Former Rep. Gloria Negrete McLeod left Congress after one term in 2014 to run a losing bid for county supervisor in San Bernardino. She just won election to a local community college district board this past November.

** A message from Sinclair Broadcast Group: Sinclair Broadcast Group, the largest and most diversified television broadcasting company in the country today, delivers not only TV, the primary medium for reaching potential voters, but also targetable digital (mobile, video, email, social media and native) ad solutions. Contact Alan Brittan @ 703-236-9673. Sinclair, busy - Making Political Ads Work! **

SEARCHING FOR THE HOLY GRAIL - "Steve Spinner Just Fixed the Worst Thing About Being a Politician," by Bloomberg's Joshua Green: [Hint: It's fundraising.] "...The product is a piece of software-an algorithm, actually-that is the distilled essence of a pioneering approach to fundraising developed by a few Silicon Valley entrepreneurs during Barack Obama's 2008 campaign, an innovation that helped lift him to the presidency. The approach grew out of a simple insight: You can raise a lot more money if, rather than just ask for a check, you ask people to reach out to their own social networks and raise money themselves. ... RevUp has licensed its software (prices start at $13,500 a year) to
congressmen, senators, and governors of both parties, as well as most of the national party committees on both sides." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=1321b7a7e99ef4f4eaaf8a22a6f2f751354c5c0705094a283932dadabb0aafd1

ENDORSEMENTS - The U.S. Chamber of Commerce endorsed Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson for reelection Wednesday, indicating it could spend money to back one of the country's most endangered GOP incumbents. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=1321b7a7e99ef4f42c024bc11291afb10fe82845171517e96ed4d1714d8560e6

YIKES - "Gov. Robert Bentley apologizes for 'inappropriate' remarks but denies 'sexual activity' with adviser," via AL.com's Mike Cason: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=1321b7a7e99ef4f410a4f7c9011ad8d029f24b4fe0c90c3a0dd461733fc087e5

PRESIDENTIAL SPEED READ - "GOP elites line up behind Ted Cruz," by POLITICO's Eli Stokols: "Republican elders, desperate to stop Donald Trump, are increasingly convinced they would rather forfeit the White House than hand their party to the divisive Manhattan billionaire. ... "People think we're not going to win in November anymore. All the candidates that had a shot at winning don't appear to have a shot at winning the nomination. Everyone is resigned to that," said a high-ranking GOP operative about the thinking among Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio alumni, as well as Republican party officials and big-money donors." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=1321b7a7e99ef4f4b483714450bbd9357ec1906ac6a1626854b11bd8eeb5f43d

- "Shadow campaign to deny Trump his delegates begins," by POLITICO's Kyle Cheney: "When South Dakota's Republican activists convened in Pierre to pick their delegates to the Republican national convention, they got an unexpected visitor. Merle Madrid, senior aide to Ohio Gov. John Kasich, had flown in from Columbus to make an appeal: If the convention fails to elect front-runner Donald Trump on the first ballot, consider Kasich on the second - even if the state's Republican voters sent them there to back Trump or Ted Cruz. ... Madrid's visit to South Dakota on Saturday marked one of the earliest signs that the shadow campaign for the Republican nomination has begun. Kasich and Cruz are
scrambling to secure commitments from bound delegates to break off on a second-ballot and vote against Trump. In many cases, that means asking delegates to buck Republican primary voters in the name of settling on a nominee." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=1321b7a7e99ef4f4c8da0af4a53bf61ace873f6a10a09ecb9bf36da0d2a6f052

- "GOP campaigns hunt for convention killer app," by POLITICO's Darren Samuelsohn: "The race is on for the GOP convention killer app, the political equivalent of a moon shot that will enable the rival presidential campaigns to navigate what's expected to be a chaotic July convention. Tracking, counting and potentially swaying the Cleveland convention's 2,472 delegates - amid a maze of confusing rules - is a mission-critical function in a nominating process that figures to be contested ... The goal isn't necessarily an app, but rather some combination of technology designed for the first contested national convention in 40 years. ... Donald Trump's plan includes arming his whip team and
campaign surrogates with new custom-built hardware so they can keep in constant touch during what could be multiple rounds of balloting. ... As for Ted Cruz, behind in the delegate count but still plodding away as if he can win the nomination outright, the Texas senator is building his own convention technology modeled off the same data-driven strategy he's been using to micro-target key demographics in the early primary and caucus states." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=1321b7a7e99ef4f414873a176790d47acbf97c5eaae622d7e5e72c7ae72238ac

- "'Stop Trump' forces see an opportunity in Scott Walker's Wisconsin," by The Washington Post's Dave Weigel: " ... Wisconsin ... has become the Masada of the 'Stop Trump' movement. In the next 13 days, it is expected to absorb millions of dollars in anti-Trump ads, including at least $2 million from the Club for Growth, which officially endorsed Cruz this week. There is pressure on Gov. Scott Walker (R-Wis.) to endorse Cruz before the primary. And Cruz is hinting that he will barnstorm the state as Kasich and Trump look eastward. ... at a glance, Wisconsin looks like the first genuine three-way race of the long primary. It's the first state where all voting - even early voting, which began
Monday - will occur without the presence of Marco Rubio, who recently ended his campaign. It's also a region that has basically split between Cruz, Donald Trump and Gov. John Kasich (R-Ohio). ...That offers Cruz the chance to surprise, and reset the campaign narrative, in what superficially looks like enemy terrain." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=1321b7a7e99ef4f42aa6b4f49be5b2188d238c766f54c9b16d62fb87c0b91b2e

- "Trump to attend gala honoring Susana Martinez," by The NM Political Report's Matthew Reichbach: "Donald Trump and Susana Martinez could meet in New York next month. The New Mexico governor will be the guest of honor at the 2016 New York State Republican Gala. The New Mexico governor has stayed mum on whether or not she would support Trump if he becomes the Republican nominee. Martinez endorsed Marco Rubio early in March." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=1321b7a7e99ef4f484449f7e11f04037303dfde4acf360a1dd0172364ee545f2

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Never, ever, ever underestimate Trump. No one should do that. I tried, others have tried. He's a hard guy to predict." - Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, to POLITICO. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=1321b7a7e99ef4f429d460b6122c1f3b31f4c3cccfa17638762fdf6168f922f8

** A message from Sinclair Broadcast Group: The race for influence in the 2016 election cycle is gaining speed. Everyone is looking to reach as big of an audience as possible and get significant portions of that audience motivated and educated enough to vote and mobilize probable supporters. As the pace quickens, more will be trying to find an edge to influence voters their way. Sinclair Broadcast Group, the largest and most diversified television broadcasting company in the country today, can help you break through the clutter. Utilizing both TV, the primary medium for reaching potential voters and targetable digital (mobile, video, email, social media and native) ad solutions, Sinclair
Makes Political Ads Work! The bottom line is the bottom line - winning elections. At the Sinclair Broadcast Group, we have the ad tools necessary to help you to persuade, enlighten and activate voters. Contact Alan Brittan, Sinclair's Director of Political Ads for more details @ 703-236-9673. **

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