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By Maggie Severns | 01/24/2018 10:00 AM EDT


With Elena Schneider, Zach Montellaro and Kevin Robillard

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)

MEEHAN TELLS ALL - "Meehan called harassment accuser his 'soul mate,'" POLITICO's Elana Schor reports: "Rep. Patrick Meehan said Tuesday that he is still running for reelection even as he acknowledged 'affection' for a former aide whom he considered a 'soul mate' - before using taxpayer money to pay off a sexual harassment claim she later pursued against him. The Pennsylvania Republican's open discussion of his feelings for his former aide, in interviews with local media outlets, comes days after his spokesman denied that any harassment occurred and said Meehan's conduct toward all of his aides displayed 'the utmost respect and professionalism.' ... Meehan is already under investigation by
the House Ethics Committee over his conduct toward his former aide, as well as his use of his personal office budget to pay the settlement. He remains a top target for Democrats in the midterm elections, running for reelection in a district that Hillary Clinton won in 2016. ... Meehan's comments may open the door to legal action from his former aide, given that their settlement was subject to a confidentiality agreement. Alexis Ronickher, the attorney representing the former aide, said in an interview Tuesday that her client is weighing whether to respond in court."

- "With all my heart, Patrick": Meehan, who's married and has three children, told The Philadelphia Inquirer that he reacted "poorly" when he found out the aide began a relationship with another man so he cleared the air with a letter. In the note, he praised the aide, calling her "a complete partner to me," thanked God "for putting you into my life" and signed it, "With all my heart, Patrick." According to the Inquirer, Meehan "also said he felt 'invited' to express his romantic feelings to the aide as they shared ice cream after work, and that he hoped that by expressing his feelings the two could prevent the situation from becoming inappropriate." Full story.

TWO WAYS TO GO ABOUT IT - Republicans legislators opt for dual track on redistricting: The Republican-controlled Pennsylvania Legislature plans to both push for a stay from the state Supreme Court and draw new maps. But House Majority Leader Dave Reed, who announced his bid to run for GOP Rep. Bill Shuster's seat and plans to recuse himself from the map-drawing process, told The Philadelphia Inquirer that "we're probably going to end up with maps drawn by the Supreme Court." Nonetheless, Republican legislators requested a stay from the state Supreme Court on Tuesday night, arguing that redrawing the map will cause too much confusion ahead of the midterms and that the court doesn't have
power to specify the standards for a remedial map, as it's not a legislature.

YOU TELL 'EM - "Manchin Will Seek Re-election but Sends Democrats a Stern Warning," by The New York Times' Jonathan Martin: "Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia told colleagues on Tuesday that he intended to run for reelection this year after all, ending an anxiety-making flirtation with retirement and easing Democratic fears that the most conservative Democrat in the Senate was about to effectively hand his seat to a Republican. In an interview, Mr. Manchin said he repeatedly expressed his frustration to Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, and other colleagues, telling them that 'this place sucks,' before finally signaling Tuesday morning to Mr. Schumer's aides
that he would file his reelection paperwork before West Virginia's deadline on Saturday." Full story.

SURVEY SAYS - "Rokita internal poll gives him edge in Indiana GOP Senate primary," by Campaign Pro's Kevin Robillard: An internal poll from GOP Rep. Todd Rokita's campaign gives him the lead in the primary to challenge Indiana Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly in 2018, with former state legislator and businessman Mike Braun and Rep. Luke Messer failing to gain traction, and more than half of primary voters still undecided. The poll, conducted by GS Strategy Group from Jan. 6-9, shows Rokita earning 24 percent of the primary vote, with Messer and Braun both earning 9 percent. A whopping 58 percent of the electorate remains undecided." Full story.

UP ON THE AIR - McSally airs first television ad: Republican Rep. Martha McSally is up with her first television ad in the race to replace retiring Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake. The ad is a 60-second version of her punchy launch video. Advertising Analytics puts the $113,738 ad buy on Fox News Channel starting Tuesday, and $26,000 on Phoenix broadcast starting on Feb. 18. Watch the ad here.

- FACE OFF - "Conservative group launches digital ads linking McCaskill to Clinton," by Robillard: "A conservative nonprofit is beginning what it says will be a sustained series of attacks linking Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill to 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, the least popular political figure in a state President Donald Trump carried by nearly 20 percentage points. The group, Missouri Rising, is starting with 30-second digital ad showing McCaskill's face morphing into Clinton's, or vice versa, seven separate times.

Losing presidential candidates are often forgotten quickly, but Trump and other elements of the conservative movement - including Fox News' opinion programming - have kept up frequent attacks on Clinton even as she has largely retreated from the political scene. A memo from Missouri Rising's executive director, Brian Rogers, argues linking McCaskill to Clinton will be a top Republican hit against the senator in 2018. as she faces a stiff challenge from GOP state Attorney General Josh Hawley." Full story.

Days until the 2018 election: 285

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.

PROGRESSIVE DISCONTENT - "The Dead Enders: Candidates Who Signed Up to Battle Donald Trump Must Get past the Democratic Party First," by The Intercept's Ryan Grim and Lee Fang: "Across the country, the DCCC, its allied groups, or leaders within the Democratic Party are working hard against some of these new candidates for Congress, publicly backing their more established opponents, according to interviews with more than 50 candidates, party operatives, and members of Congress. Winning the support of Washington heavyweights, including the DCCC - implicit or explicit - is critical for endorsements back home and a boost to fundraising. In general, it can give a candidate a tremendous advantage
over opponents in a Democratic primary." Featuring Jess King (PA-16), Jeff Erdmann (MN-02), Levi Tillemann (CO-06), James Thompson (KS-04).

Zephyr Teachout on the DCCC: "Structurally, they're going to be idiots because there's no way they can bring in the talent to do it right. ... Their strategy is stupid in the first place and bad for democracy, but then it's really stupid because they have 26-year-olds sitting around who don't know anything about the real world deciding which candidates should win." Full story.

INCOMING - "Hawaii's Fake Missile Fiasco Creates Real Political Fallout in Governor's Race," by The Wall Street Journal's Ian Lovett: "Just a few months before a daunting primary, Gov. David Ige is on an apology tour. In public appearances in the week since a false missile alert thrust Hawaii into panic, Mr. Ige has said he was sorry for the 'fear and pain.' ... Mr. Ige was already facing a tough challenger in the primary election, which will be held in August, when a state employee accidentally sent the warning. ... Many people here, including some of Mr. Ige's political allies, already criticized him as too passive. Those frustrations created an opening for Colleen Hanabusa, a Democratic
congresswoman, to challenge Mr. Ige in the primary." Full story.

NEW THIS MORNING - AAN adds $1 million in digital ads: American Action Network is putting another $1 million worth of digital ads up in 20 House districts, "illustrating the positive benefits of pro-growth tax reform," per a memo from the group. The ads, which say the tax law "means real tax cuts" for "middle-class families," will run for the next two weeks. Check out the full list of districts here. Check out the ad here.

ON THE AIRWAVES - Stovall pops TV ad from a literal swamp in TX-21: Republican Robert Stovall, the chairman of the Bexar County Republican Party, released a TV ad that has him wading through a swamp and wearing what appears to be a "Make America Great Again" hat, saying, "like President Trump, I realize the swamp is the problem." Stovall is running against more than a dozen Republican primary opponents, hoping to replace retiring Rep. Lamar Smith. Check out the TV ad here.

MITT-MENTUM - "Mitt Romney would romp to Senate victory over Jenny Wilson if election were held today," by The Salt Lake Tribune's Thomas Burr: "If Mitt Romney wants a U.S. Senate seat, a new poll shows he'd be a shoo-in, grabbing 64 percent of the vote in Utah compared with 19 percent for Democrat Jenny Wilson. ... Some 85 percent of Republicans back Romney for the seat, as do 55 percent of voters who say they're unaffiliated. Even 18 percent of Democrats say they'd support Romney." Full story.

Q4 TOTALS

- PA-17: Republican John Chrin has $910,000 in cash on hand.

- CO-06: Democrat Jason Crow raised $280,000 last quarter, ending the year with $590,000 in cash on hand.

- IN-04: Diego Morales, a conservative, raised $240,000 during the fourth quarter and $410,000 since he announced his candidacy last August.

- NY-21: Democrat Tanya Boone raised $140,000 in the last quarter.

- AZ-Gov: GOP Gov. Doug Ducey "is crushing his potential opponents in the fundraising portion of the 2018 race," The Republic reports.

DEPT. OF BIO VIDEOS - RD Huffstetler pops 3-minute bio video in VA-05: Democrat Roger Dean Huffstetler released a video that shows the Marine veteran talking about his grandparents' farm, his parents' struggle with addiction and his military service. Watch the video here.

WEB WARS - NRCC kicks off digital ads on shutdown: The NRCC is out with digital ads attacking Democrats who voted against the continuing resolution this week. The ads are part of a five-figure buy targeting 10 House Democrats: Reps. Tom O'Halleran (AZ-01), Ami Bera (CA-07), Raul Ruiz (CA-36), Scott Peters (CA-52), Dave Loebsack (IA-02), Bill Keating (MA-09), Dan Kildee (MI-05), Rick Nolan (MN-08), Sean Patrick Maloney (NY-18) and Matt Cartwright (PA-17). Check out the ad here.

NEW CANDIDATE - Republican Bob Corlew is running for Tennessee's 6th Congressional District. Per a press release from his campaign: "After graduating from law school, Bob served in the U.S. Army at Fort Knox, ultimately earning the rank of first lieutenant. Bob has also served as captain of the Tennessee National Guard and as a major in the United States Army Reserve." Corlew, who is a former president of the International Lions Club, plans to put seven figures of his own money in the race. Watch Corlew's announcement video here. Read a memo on the race from Tony Fabrizio, who is doing polling for Corlew, here.

MEANWHILE IN IDAHO - Lt. Gov. Brad Little's gubernatorial campaign is releasing its first statewide ad of the campaign. Watch the ad here. Little's campaign has placed $122,000 on cable, radio, satellite, and broadcast from today to March 6, according to the tracking firm Advertising Analytics.

IN KOCH WORLD - New org will focus on recidivism: Koch Industries will sponsor a new initiative focused on helping prisoners re-enter society. The initiative, called Safe Streets and Second Chances, will include research focused on reducing recidivism. More here.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I was a happily married man and I was not interested in a relationship, particularly not any sexual relationship, but we were soul mates," Meehan said he told his then-aide, during an interview with The Philadelphia Inquirer.

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