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By Daniel Strauss | 01/18/2018 10:00 AM EDT


With Elena Schneider and Zach Montellaro

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)

ON WISCONSIN - "GOP reels after 'electric shock' defeat" by Campaign Pro's Elena Schneider: "Gov. Scott Walker called the results a 'wake-up call for Republicans in Wisconsin.' But the alarm has been sounding for the past year - long before a state Senate special election delivered a solidly Republican seat to Wisconsin Democrats on Tuesday. Since 2016, Democrats have outperformed Hillary Clinton's performance in more than two-thirds of state legislative special elections across the nation. And in the six congressional special elections held in 2017, Democrats overperformed in five of them - and that list doesn't even include the December pickup of a Senate seat in ruby-red Alabama.
Democrats also made gains in off-year elections in New Jersey and Virginia - coming within a single vote in one district, or a random drawing of lots, from erasing the GOP majority in the Virginia state House of Delegates. ... Even Paul Ryan, the House Speaker who hails from Wisconsin, acknowledged the defeat back home. 'Typically, we have held this seat,' but 'we lost this seat last night, so, yeah, we - I think we should pay attention to it,' he said on Wednesday." Full story.

HE'S BACK - "Inside Obama's midterm campaign plans" by POLITICO's Edward Isaac Dovere: "Since leaving office, Barack Obama has struggled with how to do what no previous president has: take on his successor. Over the past year, he's appeared at rallies, done a robocall, made a few endorsements. His office in Washington's West End neighborhood, about a mile from the White House, has become a destination for Democrats looking to tap the former president for advice. ... Obama isn't expecting to make campaign appearances until the fall, people who've been working on the plans say, and when he does, will take cues from the NDRC in looking for endorsements and appearances that play up
redistricting. He already has pending requests from the DNC, the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, Organizing for Action, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, but hasn't yet committed to dates." Full story.

PARTY INFIGHTING - "Schakowsky, Gutierrez endorsing Lipinski Democratic primary rival Marie Newman," by the Chicago Sun Times' Lynn Sweet: "In a rare break of the usual tradition of House incumbents either backing each other or staying neutral in a primary, Illinois Democratic Reps. Jan Schakowsky and Luis Gutiérrez on Wednesday are endorsing challenger Marie Newman over Rep. Dan Lipinski." Full story.

2020 WATCH - "'It's malpractice': Republicans give potential 2020 Trump foes a pass," by POLITICO's Gabriel Debenedetti: "Gov. Andrew Cuomo got the good news just after New Year's Day: Two of his most formidable potential Republican challengers for reelection this year were taking a pass. Days later, it was Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown's turn, when the Republican front-runner to take him on dropped out of the race. Cuomo and Brown are not alone among Democrats who might challenge President Donald Trump in 2020: At least eight of them, all high-profile politicians, appear poised to avoid facing Republicans' top-choice challenger this year. And in many cases, that's allowing the potential
White House hopefuls to envision a 2018 spent honing their image as leaders of the anti-Trump resistance as they stockpile campaign cash - rather than having to focus on a serious GOP attempt to beat them, or just sully their image." Full story.

Days until the 2018 election: 291

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.

NEW THIS MORNING - Conor Lamb out with first TV ad in PA-18: Lamb released his first TV ad in the Pennsylvania special election, casting himself as a bipartisan candidate who "will work with anyone to get the job done." The 30-second spot is largely biographical, sharing Lamb's resume as a former federal prosecutor and a Marine veteran, who "still loves to shoot," showing a picture of Lamb shooting a gun. The ad also highlights that he's the "only candidate who's said that Democrats and Republicans need new leaders in Congress." Check out the ad here.

FIRST IN SCORE - WEB WARS - Andy Thorburn pops new digital ad in CA-39: Democrat Andy Thorburn released a new digital ad, which says that "working men and women" support Thorburn because "he says the gap between the rich and the middle class is out of control." Thorburn, who's running in a crowded primary to replace retiring Rep. Ed Royce, said in the ad he backs Medicare for all. Check out the video here.

FIRST IN SCORE - UP ON THE AIRWAVES - Not One Penny up with TV ads in ME-02: Not One Penny, a progressive group, is releasing two new TV ads and a digital ad attacking GOP Rep. Bruce Poliquin for voting for "the Trump tax," which gives "the Trump family ... a billion dollar tax break." The ads, which will air on broadcast stations for the next two weeks, are part of a seven-figure effort to target Republicans on the tax bill. Check out the ads here, here and here.

- Club for Growth hits Culberson on earmarks: "The Club for Growth is out with a TV ad attacking Rep. John Culberson (R-Texas) for his support of bringing back earmarks." Watch the ad here. Full story.

FROM THE DRAWING BOARD - "Pa. Supreme Court considers ordering new congressional map before 2018 elections," by The Philadelphia Inquirer's Liz Navratil: "Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices on Wednesday interrogated lawyers defending the way the state's congressional districts were drawn, a map opponents have challenged as illegally shaped to benefit Republicans, who hold a majority of its seats in the U.S. House. Based on the tenor of their questions, a majority of the court, which has five Democrats and two Republicans, appeared open to the argument that Pennsylvania's congressional districts are illegally gerrymandered. A group of Democratic voters has asked the court to overturn the
map and order a new one drawn before the 2018 elections, in one of several such lawsuits nationwide." Full story.

REMEMBER ME? - "Republicans dust off Georgia special election playbook for midterms," by POLITICO's Rachael Bade: "House GOP leaders are holding up one of the party's lone bright spots in the Trump era as an example for endangered incumbents in this year's midterms, urging them to tie their opponents to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and other unpopular Democrats. Rep. Karen Handel (R-Ga.) presented at a closed-door conference meeting Wednesday morning about how she won in a tough environment, defeating Democrat Jon Ossoff in a special election last June that gained national attention as a referendum on President Donald Trump." Full story.

Q4 TOTALS -

- Illinois: Republican state Rep. Jeanne Ives raised less than half a million dollars and has $660,000 cash on hand, according to The Chicago Tribune.

- Maryland: Democrat Ben Jealous' campaign said the Jealous-Turnbull ticket has raised $1.5 million and has $643,000 cash on hand.

BIG NAME IN CT GOV - "Ned Lamont Jumps Into Connecticut Governor's Race," by the Hartford Courant's Russell Blair: "Greenwich businessman Ned Lamont entered the race for governor in Connecticut Wednesday, instantly becoming one of the best-known candidates in the crowded Democratic and Republican fields. ... Lamont, a Democrat, drew national attention in 2006 when he upset then-U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman in a Democratic primary, running largely as an antiwar candidate. Lieberman ran on his own ballot line in November and won re-election in a three-way race." Full story.

STAFFING UP - Tester brings on Meagher, Robinson: Sen. Jon Tester's reelection campaign has brought on Chris Meagher as communications director and Monica Robinson as deputy press secretary. Meagher has worked for the Colorado Democratic Party and as a senior adviser for the Montana Democratic Party. Robinson worked on the coordinated campaign in 2016 that helped boost Gov. Steve Bullock. She has also worked for EMILY's List and NARAL Pro-Choice America.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: "That's why the aliens won't talk to us. ... They look at all of this stuff, and they go, 'These people ... they're 13-year-olds.'" - Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), joking about the "shithole" controversy.

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