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By Maggie Severns | 02/23/2018 10:00 AM EDT


With Elena Schneider, Zach Montellaro, and Daniel Strauss

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)

CASH RACE - Pre-primary FEC reports out in Texas primaries: We're less than two weeks away from the first primary of 2018, and we've got a look inside the final stretch from a money perspective. Remember: If no primary candidate reaches more than 50 percent, the top two vote-getters will head to a run-off, scheduled for May 22.

- TX-02: Kathaleen Wall continues to dominate the money race with personal donations in the primary to replace Republican Rep. Ted Poe. Over the last six weeks, Wall gave her campaign just under $3.2 million, finishing with $1.6 million in cash on hand. State Rep. Kevin Roberts raised $130,000 over the same period.

- TX-07: In fundraising, it's a four-way tie in the race to take on GOP Rep. John Culberson. Laura Moser came in first over the past six weeks, bringing in $150,000 with $230,000 in the bank. Alex Triantaphyllis is just behind with $120,000 and $280,000 in cash on hand. Jason Westin topped Lizzie Pannill Fletcher by $10,000 in fundraising, but Fletcher holds the most cash on hand of any of the Democratic candidates with $330,000 in the bank. All of the Democrats have aired TV ads. (The DCCC pulled an "unprecedented" move in this primary, as one Democratic operative put it, so read on for the committee's intervention against Moser.)

- TX-16: Veronica Escobar, a former El Paso County judge, coalesced national support with endorsements from EMILY's List and BOLD PAC. Former El Paso County School Board President Dori Fenenbock isn't far behind her in fundraising with $220,000 in cash on hand. But Escobar leads with $290,000 in the bank, and EMILY's List's independent expenditure is out with its first 2018 spending to boost Escobar in English- and Spanish-language TV ads.

- TX-23: Gina Ortiz Jones and Jay Hulings are both airing TV ads, but Ortiz Jones won the fundraising game over the last six weeks. Ortiz Jones, who's backed by EMILY's List, raised $280,000 with $220,000 in cash on hand. Hulings brought in $90,000 and finished the period with $100,000 in the bank.

- TX-29: Tahir Javed, a health care executive who picked up a controversial endorsement from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, gave himself a $400,000 loan, finishing the period with $290,000 in cash on hand. Schumer's endorsement is at odds with the local and national establishment, like EMILY's List and retiring Rep. Gene Green, who support State Sen. Sylvia Garcia. Garcia raised $230,000 with $230,000 in cash on hand.

- TX-32: Ed Meier, a former State Department official, leads the pack to take on GOP Rep. Pete Sessions in cash on hand with $300,000 in the bank. Meier - along with Colin Allred and Lillian Salerno - all brought in about $110,000 over the last six weeks, but Allred lags in cash with just $75,000 in the bank. Salerno has $160,000 in cash on hand.

GOVERNORS BRAWL - "POLITICO's top 10 governor's races," by POLITICO's Daniel Strauss: While Washington obsesses over congressional elections and gyrations in the generic ballot, the 36 races for governor across the country this fall could be the most consequential contests of 2018.

- Special and off-year elections across the country suggest a possible Democratic wave that could reduce the party's historic deficit: Only 16 of the nation's 50 governors are Democrats. But 23 of the three-dozen gubernatorial races this year are in Republican-held states. Full story.

POPPING LAST NIGHT - "Missouri governor indicted after accusation he tried to blackmail woman," by POLITICO's Steven Shepard: "Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens was indicted by a grand jury in St. Louis Thursday on a charge of invasion of privacy, after the ex-husband of a woman with whom Greitens had an extramarital affair said the now-governor tried to blackmail her. The indictment was announced by St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly Gardner, who said the alleged crime occurred in March 2015." (St. Louis Public Radio tweeted Greitens' mugshot.)

- Greitens said he is innocent and attacked Gardner in a statement: "As I have said before, I made a personal mistake before I was governor. I did not commit a crime," Greitens said. "With today's disappointing and misguided political decision, my confidence in our prosecutorial system is shaken, but not broken. I know this will be righted soon. The people of Missouri deserve better than a reckless liberal prosecutor who uses her office to score political points. I look forward to the legal remedies to reverse this action."

- Meanwhile in Arizona: "Congressional candidate Steve Montenegro acknowledged Thursday that he traded text messages for months with a junior legislative staffer, including receiving a topless photo from the woman. But he maintained he had done nothing inappropriate," the Arizona Republic reports. "Montenegro, a minister who has made his family and faith central to his bid for a vacant West Valley congressional seat, said in an interview with the Washington Examiner published Thursday that he didn't ask for the topless photo and tried to protect the woman's career after the November incident. ... But at a Thursday afternoon news conference, the staffer, Stephanie Holford, said through her
attorney that she sent Montenegro nude photos on several occasions, which also included explicit discussions on Snapchat." Full story.

Days until the 2018 election: 257

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.

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MISSILE ALERT - DCCC hits Democrat Laura Moser, via The Texas Tribune: "The campaign arm of Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives set its sights on a surprising target Thursday: Democratic congressional hopeful Laura Moser. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee posted negative research on Moser, a Houston journalist vying among six other Democrats in the March 6 primary to unseat Republican U.S. Rep. John Culberson. ..."

The opposition research "notes that Moser only recently moved back to her hometown of Houston and that much of her campaign fundraising money has gone to her husband's political consulting firm. It also calls her a 'Washington insider.'"

- DCCC spokesperson Meredith Kelly's statement to the Tribune's Abby Livingston: "Voters in Houston have organized for over a year to hold Rep. Culberson accountable and win this Clinton district," Kelly said. "Unfortunately, Laura Moser's outright disgust for life in Texas disqualifies her as a general election candidate, and would rob voters of their opportunity to flip Texas' 7th in November." See the DCCC's posting here. Full story.

CHALLENGER IN A SAFE SEAT - "Wyoming's Barrasso draws independent challenger," by Edward-Isaac Dovere: "David Dodson, a Jackson-based former CEO and part-time lecturer at Stanford, will jump into the Senate race on Thursday as an independent, saying in an interview ahead of the announcement that his wife has given him the sign-off to spend $1 million, and, 'if she's not looking, I'd be willing to put in more.' ... Dodson is the latest candidate to jump in with the backing of a group called Unite America, which is providing campaign infrastructure and donor support for independent candidates." Full story.

ON THE AIRWAVES - End Citizens United launches TV ads in PA-18: "End Citizens United is jumping into the special election for a congressional seat in western Pennsylvania with TV ads attacking Republican Rick Saccone for accepting 'legislative perks' as a state legislator and urging voters to 'clean house.' Saccone 'promised no legislative perks in Harrisburg - called 'em 'lavish,' then, gobbled 'em up,' the ad's narrator says. 'Spending $435,000 taxpayer dollars on himself.' ... The ad effort is backed by a $250,000 buy, which includes digital ads." Watch the ad here. Full story.

GETTING THE NOD- End Citizens United backs Gil Cisneros, Katie Porter in California: End Citizens United endorsed two Democrats, Gil Cisneros (CA-39) and Katie Porter (CA-45), in crowded primaries.

HEAD LIKE A POLL - "Schuette internal shows him leading Calley in Michigan GOP primary," by POLITICO's Daniel Strauss: "Michigan state Attorney General Bill Schuette has a large lead over Lt. Gov. Brian Calley in the Republican primary for governor, according to a new poll conducted by Public Opinion Strategies for Schuette's gubernatorial campaign. The internal poll shows Schuette leading Calley, 42 percent to 15 percent, with state Sen. Patrick Colbeck at 5 percent and physician Jim Hines at 2 percent.

"A polling memo authored by Neil Newhouse and Robert Blizzard of Public Opinion Strategies cites President Donald Trump's endorsement of Schuette as a boon to the attorney general's campaign: Eighty-four percent of Republican primary voters have a favorable view of Trump, while only 14 percent have an unfavorable view of him." Full story.

- Caforio releases internal poll in CA-25: Ahead of this weekend's endorsement convention, Democrat Bryan Caforio released an internal poll conducted by ALG Research that shows the 2016 nominee as leading the pack of Democrats hoping to take on GOP Rep. Steve Knight. The poll found Caforio with 34 percent among registered Democrats, followed by Katie Hill with 19 percent and Jess Phoenix with 12 percent. Check out the polling memo here.

- Love leads in UT-04 poll: Republican Mia Love leads Democrat Ben McAdams 49 percent to 43 percent in a new poll conducted by Dan Jones & Associates. An additional 8 percent of voters say they're undecided. The poll was conducted between Feb. 19 and 21 of 404 registered voters. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.9 percentage points. More from utahpolicy.com here.

ON THE MONEY TRAIL - "Trump super PAC to spend $1M in Pennsylvania special election," by POLITICO's Alex Isenstadt: "The pro-Trump super PAC America First Action is launching a $1 million ad-buy in support of Pennsylvania special election candidate Rick Saccone, according to a person familiar with the group's plans. The organization will start airing digital ads later this week and TV ads next week. The special election is March 13." Full story.

- "Debbie Lesko accused of moving $50K from campaign to a PAC that backs ... Lesko," The Arizona Republic reports: "Congressional candidate Debbie Lesko last month steered $50,000 from her state Senate campaign to a federal political-action committee that has supported her in the West Valley race, a move one of Lesko's opponents claimed is illegal in complaints filed this week." Full story.

WEB WARS - Jason Crow launches first digital ad in CO-06: Democrat Jason Crow is out with his first digital ad, which attacks GOP Rep. Mike Coffman for being "loyal" to the NRA. "These are the weapons I needed in Iraq and Afghanistan, and now they're tearing our communities apart," Crow says in the ad. "This is another perfect example of Mike Coffman and his failed leadership." Watch the ad here.

- Andy Thorburn releases digital ad in CA-39: Democrat Andy Thorburn released a digital ad on the environment, promising to "fight back against Trump, strengthen environmental protections, prioritize renewable energy, like wind and solar, to create more jobs." Ed Begley Jr., an actor and environmentalist, appears in the ad, urging voters to back Thorburn. Watch the ad here.

- Sam Jammal pops digital ad in CA-39: Democrat Sam Jammal released a digital ad that focuses on Trump's "both sides" comments after Charlottesville. Jammal, an Arab-American, said Trump's comments "brought me back to that outsider feeling" he felt after Sept. 11. Jammal said "the reality is that Donald Trump doesn't fit here." Watch the ad here.

MUSICAL CHAIRS - Boyle will seek North Philly seat: "Pennsylvania Democratic Rep. Brendan Boyle announced today that he planned to run in the newly drawn 2nd District - a seat that covers Philadelphia, but does not overlap with Montgomery County - parts of which Boyle has represented since 2014." Full story.

- "Pennsylvania GOP House members seek to stop new congressional map," by POLITICO's Elena Schneider: "Eight GOP members of Pennsylvania's congressional delegation are joining state Senate leadership in asking a federal district court to block the state Supreme Court's new congressional map and order Pennsylvania to use the now-discarded districts for the 2018 elections. Reps. Lou Barletta, Ryan Costello, Mike Kelly, Tom Marino, Scott Perry, Keith Rothfus, Lloyd Smucker and Glenn Grothman joined the lawsuit as plaintiffs. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick did not join the suit - nor did retiring GOP Reps. Pat Meehan, Charlie Dent and Bill Shuster." Full story.

SCORECARD ALERT - Club for Growth is out with its annual scorecard "based on issues relating to limited government and economic growth." Sens. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), Pat Toomey (R-Pa..) and James Lankford (R-Okla.) all received perfect scores, while Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) is the only House member to score 100 percent. The scorecards.

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Looks Dr'd. Can't someone just do a clean excel doc and pdf to me?" a bank employee who allegedly conspired with Paul Manafort said after Manafort allegedly sent the bank a forged profit-and-loss statement, according to a new 32-count indictment. (H/t POLITICO's Josh Gerstein.)

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