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By Zach Montellaro | 08/03/2018 10:00 AM EDT


With 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)

VOLUNTEER STATE TAKEAWAYS - In the most-closely watched election of the night, Bill Lee emerged as the winner of the Republican gubernatorial primary. When the race was called at a little past 10 p.m. Eastern, Randy Boyd was in second, ahead of Rep. Diane Black, who was in third place.

- Two takeaways from the race: First, President Donald Trump's endorsement is worth its weight in gold in a Southern Republican primary, and a substitute endorsement from Vice President Mike Pence just won't cut it (Pence endorsed Black, but Trump sat out the race). Second, the House isn't the surefire launching pad some Republicans hoped it would be. Black joins a list of House members - Reps. Todd Rokita (R-Ind.), Luke Messer (R-Ind.), Evan Jenkins (R-W.Va.) and Raul Labrador (R-Idaho) - who fell in a primary for higher office. On the Democratic side, Karl Dean skated to the nomination for governor.

- Both Senate races were over pretty much as soon as they began. The AP called the Republican contest for Rep. Marsha Blackburn and the Democratic race for Phil Bredesen less than 15 minutes after polls closed.

- In the downballot Republican primaries we were watching, Tim Burchett won in TN-02 and John Rose won in TN-06, making them both likely future congressmen. GOP Rep. David Kustoff held off a self-funding primary challenger in TN-08.

Happy Friday! I got a press release touting Bon Iver's endorsement of Kelda Roys in the Wisconsin Democratic gubernatorial primary. Everyone else, step it up. As always, you can email me at zmontellaro@politico.com or DM me at @ZachMontellaro. Maggie Severns (mseverns@politico.com; @MaggieSeverns) helped today.

Email the great Campaign Pro team at sbland@politico.com, eschneider@politico.com, dstrauss@politico.com and jarkin@politico.com. Follow them on Twitter: @PoliticoScott, @ec_schneider, @DanielStrauss4 and @JamesArkin.

Days until the 2018 election: 95.

Upcoming election dates - Aug. 7: Kansas, Michigan, Missouri and Washington primaries and OH-12 special election. - Aug. 11: Hawaii primaries. - Aug. 14: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Connecticut, Vermont primaries

GOP CIVIL WAR BREWING - The latest shot in the Trump vs. Koch civil war comes from the RNC, which is telling donors to steer clear of the Koch network. "Some groups who claim to support conservatives forgo their commitment when they decide their business interests are more important than those of the country or Party," RNC Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel wrote in a memo to party contributors on Thursday afternoon. "This is unacceptable." POLITICO's Alex Isenstadt has more: "In the memo, McDaniel notes that the RNC has long expressed concerns about the Koch network, which has developed its own data program for Republican candidates to use. The Koch data program rivaled the one that had been
created by the RNC. McDaniel also warns Republican candidates to steer clear of the Kochs. ...

"James Davis, a Koch spokesman, did not respond directly to the RNC's move. But he suggested the network stood by its pledge to work across party lines."

- There's megadonor-on-party infighting on the other side too. Billionaire Tom Steyer's speech to progressive activists at Netroots Nation blasted the "Democratic establishment." The Daily Beast's Gideon Resnick and Sam Stein: "Steyer [accused] party leaders of ducking the debate over Trump's fitness for office out of political timidity. 'The Establishment Democrats come here to speak to you because they want your support. But they won't take an actual step - a real move - to rein in a reckless, lawless, and dangerous president.'"

** Presented by AARP: There's only one true deciding factor in this year's elections: 50-plus voters. They won't be ignored and their votes are up for grabs. Medicare, Social Security, support for family caregivers, and prescription drug costs are all on the line-so you can be sure they'll be voting in record numbers.
aarp.org/vote **

SPECIAL ELECTION WATCH - A new line of attack from American Bridge's Bridge Project hits Republicans' nominee for Ohio's 12th Congressional District, Troy Balderson, for refusing to say whether he'll support Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) for speaker. Jordan is currently fighting accusations that he ignored sexual abuse claims while he was an assistant coach at Ohio State University in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The group said they're backing the new digital ad with "five figures."

- The Congressional Leadership Fund released a radio ad featuring Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) that encourages voters to back Balderson.

POLLS POLLS POLLS - Pump the brakes a bit on the upset watch in Massachusetts' 7th District. POLITICO Massachusetts' Lauren Dezenski: "A new poll shows Rep. Mike Capuano (D-Mass.) maintaining his lead over primary challenger Ayanna Pressley, though the 10-term Democrat is still below 50 percent in next month's closely watched contest. Among likely Democratic primary voters, 48 percent prefer Capuano, while 35 percent prefer Pressley, according to a new poll from WBUR-FM and MassINC Polling Group. That is virtually unchanged from the previous poll in February, when Capuano led Pressley, 47 percent to 35 percent."

TRUMP STUMPS FOR BARLETTA - In Wilkes-Barre, Pa., the president stumped for his close ally GOP Rep. Lou Barletta, who faces an uphill battle in his bid to take down Democratic Sen. Bob Casey. The Scranton Times-Tribune's Borys Krawczeniuk: "President Donald Trump rallied a raucous crowd [Thursday] behind U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta, labeling Sen. Bob Casey as 'Sleeping Bob' and 'boring.' ... Barletta's campaign said donations poured in from across the country during the rally. Trump noted polling showed him behind as he ran for president but said Pennsylvania helped him win."

- Barletta was hoping to have the rally in a different part of the state. Campaign Pro's James Arkin: "Barletta said in an interview that he and Trump spoke after the May primary, and the president said he wanted to hold a rally for him. Some in Barletta's campaign wanted the rally in western Pennsylvania, a part of the state where he needs big vote margins but his low name ID is an issue. But Trump wanted to do it in Wilkes-Barre, in the same arena he visited a month before Election Day 2016. ... Some Republicans are skeptical that Trump will be all-in for Barletta as Election Day approaches, viewing this rally as more of a favor to a loyal supporter."

SIGN OF A WAVE? - ActBlue has busted the $1 billion mark in money raised for Democratic candidates and causes this cycle. USA Today's Fredreka Schouten: "The group predicts donations will top $1.5 billion by year's end, double the amount the fundraising clearinghouse processed in the 2016 election cycle. By comparison, it took ActBlue nearly 12 years - from its founding in June 2004 until March 2016 - to raise its first $1 billion. The average donation this cycle: $34. ... Helping fuel the growth: Women donors, who now account for 61 percent of ActBlue's 3.7 million contributors this cycle. That's up from 54 percent in 2016 and 52 percent in 2014."

WORKING MY WAY BACK TO YOU - Steve Bannon, who was essentially forced out at Breitbart at the beginning of this year, is working to get back into the good graces of his former boss. BuzzFeed News' Tarini Parti: "Bannon is expected to launch a '2018 war room,' according to two sources, to try to shape the midterm election messaging on behalf of Republicans. He is pushing Trump's advisers and congressional Republicans to make the possibility of impeachment under a Democratic-controlled House their core message. It's unclear how the group is set up and who is funding the operation."

ON THE AIRWAVES - A new, mysterious Democratic super PAC is launching a barrage against GOP Rep. Martha McSally ahead of the Republican primary later this month. Campaign Pro's James Arkin: "Red and Gold, an organization created just this week, released an ad attacking McSally for her vote on Republicans' Obamacare repeal bill. The ad focuses on a provision allowing insurers to charge elderly citizens more, calling it an 'age tax' on seniors. ...

"The new Democratic organization, Red and Gold, formed Wednesday, according to an FEC filing, and lists no information about its donors. The ad will begin running Friday in Phoenix and Tucson, backed by at least $450,000, according to data from Advertising Analytics. Red and Gold used the same ad buyer, Waterfront Strategies, that Senate Majority PAC, a top outside group aligned with Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, uses to place its TV ad buys."

FIRST IN SCORE - DIGITAL BLITZ - End Citizens United is releasing a series of digital and radio ads (ad 1, ad 2, ad 3) in Montana hitting Republican Senate candidate Matt Rosendale for "bad deals and big donors."

CREATIVE ACCOUNTING - Democrat Aftab Pureval, who is running in Ohio's 1st District, might have run afoul of election laws by using funds from a county election account. The Cincinnati Enquirer's Sharon Coolidge: "Publicly available campaign finance reports appear to show Pureval used his clerk of courts campaign account for expenses in his federal congressional race. ... Pureval spent $30,000 in the first six months of this year out of the clerk campaign account - even though a potential run for reelection wouldn't come for another two years when Pureval's term is up, according to a campaign finance reports filed Tuesday at the Hamilton County Board of Elections. Pureval was elected clerk
in 2016. ... Pureval's congressional campaign manager Sarah Topy told The Enquirer all donations and expenses from the clerk campaign account are related to the clerk's office. She declined to comment on specific spending, including the photography expense and specific other expenses related to the congressional campaign."

ON THE LEFT - Thousands of Democratic activists arrived in New Orleans for the Netroots Nation conference ready to do battle with Trump. POLITICO David Siders' dispatch: "Centrist Democrats for months have nudged the party's left flank to avoid the kind of strident partisanship and outright provocations that Donald Trump could seize on to whip up Republicans voters in the midterms. The response from the progressive base this week? Shove off. ...

"While Democratic leaders in Washington push forward with a midterm campaign agenda focused on health care and the economy, activists are embracing sanctuary cities, gay rights and other social issues igniting the Democratic base. The conference opened with a panel calling explicitly for a 'litmus test' on Democrats supporting abortion rights - a direct rebuke of Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Ben Ray Luján's comments last year that the party would impose no such test."

MIDTERM MESSAGING - A trend emerging among Democrats: rejecting corporate PAC money. The AP's Lisa Lerer: "Long considered a peripheral issue in midterm elections, money in politics is emerging as a new litmus test for Democratic candidates. In ads, stump speeches and debates, scores of politicians are pledging to reject corporate PAC donations. ... In total, more than federal 170 candidates have said they're not accepting corporate PAC donations, according to a tally by the group End Citizens United, a political action committee dedicated to campaign finance reform."

WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE - EMILY's List is drawing the ire of some (usually male) Democrats. Mother Jones' Kara Voght: "[T]he criticism has been much more rampant this cycle, coming heavily from progressives and fellow Democrats who would have likely once championed the group's efforts. In an election year that's been defined not only by women candidates, but also women voters and volunteers, it's easy to see why they're irked - EMILY's List-backed candidates have been, on the whole, winning, and the group's attacks have been crippling to otherwise viable campaigns."

MONEY IN POLITICS - The FEC failed to grant Rep. Darrell Issa permission to transfer funds to repay old debt. The commission did not muster the four votes required to approve a request from the California Republican, in which he asked to transfer funds from his House campaign account to a long-shuttered Senate campaign account that he would then have used to repay campaign debt to himself.

WAY, WAY DOWN BALLOT - Republican Glenn Jacobs (you might know him as Kane, the longtime WWE professional wrestler) was elected mayor of Knox County last night in Tennessee, via WBIR.

PRE-PRIMARY FUNDRAISING - All numbers are from July 1-25.

- MN-01: DFLer Dan Feehan raised $136,000 and spent $33,000, per his report. He has $734,000 cash on hand.

- More MN-01: Republican Jim Hagedorn raised $39,000 and spent $93,000, per his report. He has $337,000 cash on hand.

- Even more MN-01: Republican Carla Nelson raised $40,000 and spent $126,000, per her report. She has $150,000 cash on hand.

- MN-02: GOP Rep. Jason Lewis raised $142,000 and spent $69,000, per his report. He has under $1.4 million cash on hand.

- More MN-02: Democrat Angie Craig raised $239,000 and spent $91,000, per her report. She has $1.7 million cash on hand.

- MN-03: GOP Rep. Erik Paulsen raised just over $80,000 and spent over $213,000, according to his report. He has about $2.7 million cash on hand.

- More MN-03: DFLer Dean Phillips raised $182,000 and spent $269,000, per his report. He has $836,000 cash on hand.

- MN-08: Republican Pete Stauber raised about $126,000 and spent about $61,000, per his report. He has $479,000 cash on hand.

- More MN-08: DFLer Joe Radinovich raised under $44,000 and spent about $130,000, per his report. He has $60,000 cash on hand.

- Even more MN-08: DFLer Jason Metsa raised under $27,000 and spent $82,000, per his report. He has under $70,000 cash on hand.

- WI-01: Democrat Randy Bryce raised $215,000 and spent just under $692,000, per his report. He has under $1.7 million cash on hand.

- More WI-01: Republican Bryan Steil raised just under $91,000 and spent close to $79,000, per his report. He has $631,000 cash on hand.

- Even more WI-01: Democrat Cathy Myers raised about $131,000 and spent about $124,000, per her report. She has $160,000 cash on hand.

CODA - "Get out and vote for Steve on Aug 7th. He has my full & total endorsement!" - Trump endorsing Rep. Steve Stivers (R-Ohio) in a now-deleted tweet. Stivers is not facing an election on Aug. 7.

** Presented by AARP: Americans 50 and over are the nation's most powerful voting bloc. In fact, more than 60 million of them voted in 2016-and this year, they're more motivated than ever to making sure that their voices are heard in Washington.
They're frustrated with broken government. And they're fed up with politicians who'd rather get into fights than get results. The issues they care about most including Medicare, Social Security, support for family caregivers and prescription drug costs, are all on the line. America's 50-plus voters have put the candidates on notice. Anyone who ignores them will feel it on Election Day. aarp.org/vote **

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