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By Daniel Strauss | 02/15/2018 10:00 AM EDT


With Kevin Robillard, Zach Montellaro, Elena Schneider 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)

PROGRAMMING NOTE: Morning Score will not publish on Monday, Feb. 19. Our next Morning Score newsletter will publish on Tuesday, Feb. 20.

ROMNEY POSTPONES - "Romney postpones Senate announcement" "Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is postponing his widely expected announcement on Thursday about this year's Senate race in Utah, following today's school shooting in South Florida. 'As a father and grandfather, my heart aches for the victims of today's tragic events. My prayers go out to all of the families and loved ones affected by this senseless act of violence,' Romney, the 2012 GOP presidential nominee, said this evening in a Twitter post. 'Out of respect for the victims and their families, I will not be making an announcement tomorrow about the Senate race.' Romney is expected to run for the Senate seat being vacated by
retiring Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah). Romney is scheduled to headline the Utah County GOP's Lincoln Day Dinner on Friday night in Provo." Full story.

A MONTH AWAY - "NRCC launches coordinated ad campaign with Saccone in PA-18" by Campaign Pro's Elena Schneider: "The NRCC launched a coordinated TV buy on Wednesday with Republican Rick Saccone in the special election for a House seat in Western Pennsylvania. National Democrats, meanwhile, have been off the air in support of Conor Lamb for two days, but DCCC Chairman Ben Ray Luján insisted Wednesday that Lamb will 'have the resources he needs to compete in this election.' The NRCC - along with myriad outside groups - have dropped millions in TV ad spending to boost Saccone and damage Lamb, who are both vying to replace Rep. Tim Murphy, who resigned last fall. But the DCCC's TV
reservation, amounting to $300,000, ended this week, and Luján won't commit to adding resources to the race. Luján, who noted that Lamb has closed the gap between himself and Saccone to '4 or 5 points,' said that the committee will 'continue to monitor that election day-by-day.' The NRCC, meanwhile, is going up with a coordinated buy to support Saccone, as well as releasing a new TV ad. The ad attacks Lamb's tenure as a federal prosecutor, accusing him of 'allow[ing] a drug kingpin, who flooded our streets with cocaine and heroin, to receive a lighter sentence.'" Full story.

OOPS - "Kelli Ward touts endorsement from fake-news site," by POLITICO's Jason Schwartz and Shawn Musgrave: "It looked as if Arizona Senate candidate Kelli Ward had scored a big endorsement: On Oct. 28, she posted a link on her campaign website and blasted out a Facebook post, quoting extensively from a column in the Arizona Monitor. ... There was just one problem: Despite its reputable sounding name, the Arizona Monitor is not a real news site. It is an anonymous, pro-Ward blog that has referred to her primary opponent Martha McSally as 'Shifty McSally,' frequently blasted [Sen. Jeff] Flake and, at the top of its home page, proclaims its mission as 'Striking Fear into the Heart of the
Establishment.' The site launched just a few weeks before publishing the endorsement, and its domain registration is hidden, masking the identity of its owner. On its Facebook page, it is classified as a news site, but scant other information is offered." Full story.

ON THE AIR - Messer campaign books $900,000 worth of airtime in lead-up to primary: Rep. Luke Messer's campaign or Indiana Senate has booked $900,000 worth of airtime for the run-up to the May 8 primary. The buy covers the last five weeks of the GOP primary, starting on April 3, and includes $800,000 on broadcast in the Fort Wayne, South Bend and Indianapolis markets, plus $100,000 on cable. Messer's campaign said they will likely go up on television before the buy begins, and will expand the buy at a later date.

Days until the 2018 election: 264

Upcoming election dates - Arizona 8th District special primary: Feb. 27. Texas primaries: March 6. Pennsylvania 18th District special election: March 13. Illinois primaries: March 20.

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

You can also follow us on Twitter: @politicoscott, @ec_schneider, @politicokevin, @danielstrauss4 and @maggieseverns.

THAT POLL-TIME RELIGION - Senate Conservatives Fund poll finds majority of GOP primary voters want Corker to retire: A new poll from Senate Conservatives Fund, conducted by GOP IVR firm Victory Phones, found 64 percent of GOP primary voters in Tennessee want Sen. Bob Corker to retire, while just 24 percent want him to run for reelection. A ballot test question, asked after the question about whether Corker should retire, has Rep. Marsha Blackburn leading with 49 percent of the vote, Corker getting 26 percent and former Rep. Stephen Fincher earning 9 percent. Blackburn's net favorability is at +43, while Corker's is at -1, and the lesser-known Fincher is at +7. Full results here.

NEW ON THE MONEY TRAIL - Hawley, NRSC, RNC form joint fundraising committee: A new joint fundraising committee will raise money for Missouri GOP Senate candidate Josh Hawley, the RNC and the NRSC, according to a registration with the FEC. The new committee is called the "Hawley Win Fund."

- New super PAC to watch in Illinois: A new super PAC called Citizens for a Better Illinois was also registered with the FEC this week - and it appears that the new effort may be linked to NARAL. The PAC's treasurer is listed as Steven J. Kravitz, NARAL's chief financial officer. What might Citizens for a Better Illinois be planning to do? The disclosure with the FEC doesn't say. But it does list a URL address - which at the time of this newsletter did not link to a live website, hinting that the super PAC could focus on Rep. Dan Lipinski's primary battle in Illinois' 3rd Congressional district: www.betterillinois3.com. NARAL did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday evening.
Abortion rights groups have targeted Lipinski, who opposes abortion.

ENDORSEMENT WATCH - A day after Campaign Pro's Daniel Strauss scooped Connie Pillich was planning to drop out of the Ohio Democratic primary for governor, she threw her support behind Richard Cordray. Per a press release from Cordray's campaign: "Connie Pillich and running mate Scott Schertzer announced today during a press conference in Columbus that they're ending their campaign and endorsing Rich Cordray and Betty Sutton for Governor and Lt. Governor. 'I've always been drawn to public service - that's why I signed up to fight for our country in the military and why I've been fighting for my community ever since,' said Connie Pillich. 'After the last seven years of job growth that's
trailed the nation, an out of control opioid crisis, and an education system that's been under attack by special interests, it's time to unite so we can best serve the people of Ohio. As Ohio's Treasurer, Attorney General, and head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Rich Cordray has fought tirelessly for working families. I'm proud to join Rich and Betty and I'll do everything I can to help them on the campaign trail and in the fight for Ohio's future.'"

WAVE WATCH - "How Might a 2018 Democratic Wave Affect Governor's Races?" by Governing's Louis Jacobson: "There's a lot of talk these days about how a Democratic wave may be building for the 2018 midterm elections. Usually this wave is discussed in terms of Democrats having a shot at ousting Republicans in the U.S. House and maybe the U.S. Senate. But could a Democratic wave form in gubernatorial races, too? ... In each [of the past three wave elections], the president's party experienced double-digit losses in U.S. House seats and the loss of between six and nine seats in the U.S. Senate. In the meantime, the president's party lost between three and six gubernatorial seats - a pretty
significant fraction of the 36 gubernatorial races typically on the ballot during midterm elections." Full story.

GLASSER INTERVIEWS RAHM - "Trump and Rahm Emanuel both love a fight, especially against each other" by Susan B. Glasser for newyorker.com: "When Chicago's mayor, Rahm Emanuel, was recently in New York to appear on Stephen Colbert's late-night television show, Colbert asked how he would enforce his declaration that Chicago was now a 'Trump-free zone.' 'The whole thing? How does that work?' Colbert asked. Yes, Emanuel replied, nodding his head vigorously, 'The whole thing. Our motto: a city he'll never sleep in. We don't want him, man.' At that, he smiled broadly as the audience cheered. ... In our conversation, Emanuel was happy to discuss Trump, but he bristled when I asked about the
Democrats' own divisions. Emanuel is famous for his quick temper and salty language; this was the only time in our talk when it appeared. It was clear that he was tired of answering whether he is progressive enough for the times. 'I take umbrage at this,' he said, before quickly reeling off a list of Chicago initiatives that include free community college for all students who graduate from high school with at least a B average and the nation's only college scholarship for Dreamers. 'Is that left? Is that big-'P' left? Is that small-'p' left? Is that moderate centrist, or center left?' he asked. 'I don't know. I don't give a rat's ass. I really don't. To me, that's, like, the dumbest
debate.'" Full story.

OUCH - "Poll: New Yorkers don't want Cuomo, Gillibrand or de Blasio to run for president," by POLITICO New York's Bill Mahoney: "When asked if Cuomo should run for president, 28 percent of respondents said he should and 63 percent said he shouldn't. That's down from when Quinnipiac asked the same question in July, and 38 percent wanted him to run. New Yorkers weren't any more sold on two other prominent New York residents said to harbor national aspirations. When asked whether Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand should consider a 2020 campaign, voters said no by a 58-28 margin. They overwhelmingly rejected the idea of a candidacy from New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, spurning the idea 78-15." Full
story.

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Yes. And I don't know that there's an alternative" - Sen. Joni Ernst on whether she still has confidence in White House chief of staff John Kelly.

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