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By Maggie Severns | 04/17/2018 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)

FROM THE FEC FILES - Super PAC supporting Ohio governor candidate Mary Taylor has lone shadowy donor: A super PAC actively supporting Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor's bid for governor in Ohio received $850,000 during the first quarter of the year from a mysterious nonprofit group, new federal filings show. The super PAC, called Onward Ohio, has become a real player in the race, spending $680,000 on a statewide digital television campaign earlier this year attacking Taylor opponent Mike DeWine in the GOP primary.

The $850,000 donation was the only contribution that Onward Ohio received during the first three months of the year. It came from the Independence and Freedom Network, which is listed as being located in Washington, D.C., but appears to have been registered in 2017 in Ohio by James G. Ryan, a Columbus-based lawyer. Neither Ryan nor a contact for Onward Ohio responded to requests for an interview on Monday.

But depending on how and when the Independence and Freedom Network reveals information about its funders, it could raise questions about transparency and whether the group was established to hide the identity of its funder or funders. "We don't know much of this putative non-profit's activities. If it's being used to hide the source of money that's spent to influence the outcome of an election, that raises legal problems - including potential violations of the prohibition on giving in the name of another," said Stephen Spaulding, chief of strategy and external affairs at the good government organization Common Cause. See the filing here.

- "POLITICO Pro New Jersey: New super PAC has ties to Menendez challenger," by POLITICO New Jersey's Matt Friedman: "A New Jersey super PAC that quietly formed in February received $1.1 million from just two donors, both of whom are linked to Celgene, the company that until that month was led by likely Republican Senate nominee Bob Hugin. The donations to Integrity NJ indicate the super PAC will spend seven figures in an attempt to aid Hugin in his uphill battle against incumbent Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), who, despite surviving a corruption trial last year, leads Hugin by 17 and 21 points in two recent public polls.

"Florida resident William P. Scully, who, according to documents, owns a large number of shares in Celgene, gave $1 million to Integrity NJ in February, according to paperwork filed with the Federal Election Commission." Full story.

- "Scott's super PAC gets first-quarter boost from financial services industry," by POLITICO Florida's Matt Dixon: "Gov. Rick Scott helped raise $1.2 million last quarter, with help from the financial services industry, for a super PAC now backing his Senate campaign. ... A Democratic-leaning group has filed a Federal Election Commission complaint against Scott, alleging coordination between the PAC and the campaign, and that New Republican is a fundraising arm for his official campaign. The super PAC now has nearly $2 million in the bank as the race between Scott and incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) officially kicks off." Full story.

SAY WHAT - "GOP Senate candidate compares McConnell to the Russians," by POLITICO's Alex Isenstadt: "A brewing fight between West Virginia GOP Senate candidate Don Blankenship and national Republicans spilled into the open Monday when the coal baron compared Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell to Russians interfering in his state's election. 'McConnell should not be in the U.S. Senate, let alone be the Republican Majority Leader. He is a Swamp captain,' Blankenship said in a statement Monday. 'The Russians and McConnell should both stop interfering with elections outside their jurisdictions.'" Full story.

SPECIAL ELECTION SEASON - FIRST IN SCORE - "Tipirneni campaign releases internal poll showing tied race in AZ-08" by Campaign Pro's Elena Schneider: "An internal poll commissioned by Democrat Hiral Tipirneni found a tied race in the House special election in Arizona's 8th district, which President Donald Trump won by 21 points in 2016. Tipirneni has 46 percent support among people who have already voted, while Republican Debbie Lesko also has 46 percent, according to the poll. Another 8 percent declined to answer." Full story.

Days until the 2018 election: 203

Upcoming election dates - AZ-08 special election: April 24 - Indiana, Ohio, North Carolina and West Virginia primaries: May 8 - Idaho, Nebraska, Pennsylvania and Oregon primaries: May 15 - Arkansas, Georgia and Kentucky primaries, plus Texas primary runoffs: May 22.

Upcoming filing deadlines - Michigan: April 24 - Florida: May 4 - Masscahusetts: May 8 - Washington: May 18 - Arizona: May 30.

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

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

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HAPPY TAX DAY - The NRSC is re-upping apropos tax reform digital ads today on Facebook and YouTube.

NEW THIS MORNING - CLF reserves $48 million in fall ads: The Congressional Leadership Fund announced its first round of fall TV and digital ad reservations on Tuesday. The group plans to spend $38 million on broadcast and cable stations in 20 House districts, along with $10 million on digital ads in 30 House districts. The initial TV ad spending will support: CA-10 (Denham), $2.35 million; CA-25 (Knight), $2.1 million; CA-45 (Walters), $2.3 million; CO-06 (Coffman), $2.3 million; FL-26 (Curbelo), $1.67 million; IL-12 (Bost), $2 million; KS-02 (Open), $1.25 million; KS-03 (Yoder), $1.7 million; KY-06 (Barr), $1.8 million; ME-02 (Poliquin), $1.2 million; MI-08 (Bishop), $2.2 million; MN-03
(Paulsen), $2.3 million; MN-08 (Open), $2.6 million; NE-02 (Bacon), $1.6 million; NJ-03 (MacArthur), $1.4 million; NY-22 (Tenney), $900,000; PA-01 (Fitzpatrick) $1.4 million; TX-07 (Culberson), $2.45 million; TX-23 (Hurd), $2.1 million; and WA-08 (Open), $2.1 million.

SPECIAL ELECTION SEASON - NRCC adds $143K in AZ-08 special election spending: "The NRCC's independent expenditure unit is adding another $143,000 on broadcast and cable stations, along with radio ads, to bolster Republican Debbie Lesko in the final week of the House special election in Arizona." Full story.

- RNC invests more money in AZ-08: The RNC added another $280,000 on Monday into the House special election for get-out-the-vote efforts, per FEC filings.

MORE Q1 FUNDRAISING - MN-08: Republican Pete Stauber raised $270,000 in the first quarter with $290,000 in cash on hand. Morning Score incorrectly reported Stauber's total on Monday. Morning Score regrets the error.

- Ohio Senate: Rep. Jim Renacci reported raising $4.5 million since switching to the Senate race in mid-January and has $4.5 million cash on hand.

- CA-25: Democrat Katie Hill announced that she raised $420,000 in the first quarter.

- CA-45: Democrat Katie Porter raised $290,000 in the first quarter with $600,000 in cash on hand.

- GA-06: Republican Rep. Karen Handel announced that she raised $370,000 in the first quarter with $800,000 in cash on hand.

- More GA-06: Democrat Bobby Kaple raised $300,000 in the first quarter with $410,000 in cash on hand.

- FL-??: Former Democratic Rep. Alan Grayson raised $192,000, but he hasn't decided on what district he is running in, via Florida Politics.

- FL-18: Democrat Lauren Baer raised $450,000 in the first quarter with $700,000 in cash on hand.

- FL-27: Democrat Matt Haggman raised $240,000 in the first quarter with $870,000 in cash on hand.

- MI-07: Democrat Gretchen Driskell announced that she raised $320,000 in the first quarter.

- MI-08: Democrat Elissa Slotkin raised $800,000 in the first quarter with $1.3 million in cash on hand.

- NE-02: Republican Rep. Don Bacon announced that he raised $340,000 in the first quarter.

- NJ-07: Democrat Tom Malinowski raised $480,000 in the first quarter with $740,000 in cash on hand.

- NM-01: Democrat Deb Haaland raised about $300,000 and has over $350,000 cash on hand.

- NM-02: Democrat Xochitl Torres Small raised $310,000 in the first quarter.

- NC-09: Democrat Dan McCready raised $610,000 in the first quarter with $1.3 million in cash on hand.

- VA-10: Democrat Lindsey Davis Stover raised $230,000 in the first quarter with $470,000 in cash on hand.

- More VA-10: Democrat Jennifer Wexton announced that she raised $270,000 in the first quarter.

- WA-08: Democrat Shannon Hader raised $600,000 in the first quarter with $510,000 in cash on hand.

CONTRA-NARRATIVE - "Poll: Democrats' advantage in midterm election support is shrinking," by The Washington Post's Dan Balz and Scott Clement: "Democrats hold an advantage ahead of the midterm elections, but a Washington Post-ABC News poll shows that edge has narrowed since January, a signal to party leaders and strategists that they could be premature in anticipating a huge wave of victories in November. The poll finds that the gap between support for Democratic vs. Republican House candidates dropped by more than half since the beginning of the year. At the same time, there has been a slight increase in President Trump's approval rating, although it remains low. Measures of partisan
enthusiasm paint a more mixed picture of the electorate in comparison to signs of Democratic intensity displayed in many recent special elections." Full story.

GETTING THE NOD - Michigan Dems spurn UAW-backed attorney general candidate at endorsement convention, via the Detroit Free Press' Kathleen Gray: "In a unprecedented blow to organized labor, Plymouth attorney Dana Nessel won the endorsement for her bid for state attorney general from Democrats at a day-long convention Sunday. She overcame a nearly unified group of organized labor, led by the United Auto Workers, that had endorsed former U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan Pat Miles of Grand Rapids. But Nessel had forged a coalition of progressive activists, marijuana supporters and Democrats energized to join the party after the election of Donald Trump as President of the
United States in 2016." Full story.

CASH FLUSH - Progressive groups announce $30M mobilization effort: "A coalition of Democratic-aligned outside groups - Planned Parenthood Votes, SEIU, the Center for Community Change Action and Color of Change PAC - announced a joint $30 million effort, called 'Win Justice,' in three states to mobilize infrequent voters ahead of the November elections. The group will target Florida, Michigan and Nevada, three states where Democrats hope to hold on to two Senate seats and flip the third." Full story.

PERSONNEL DEPT. - American Bridge brings on Zach Hudson: Hudson will be the communications director for the Democratic research group's gubernatorial program. Hudson was Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto's communications director during her 2016 campaign and held the same position for the Nevada Democratic Party before that.

MIDWESTERNERS - South Bend Mayor Buttigieg to headline Cordray fundraiser: "South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg will headline a fundraiser for Ohio Democratic gubernatorial candidate Richard Cordray Tuesday, according to an invitation obtained by POLITICO. Buttigieg, widely regarded as a Democratic rising star, is the latest prominent Democrat to fundraise for Cordray." Full story.

CORRECTION: The April 16 edition of Morning Score misstated Republican Pete Stauber's first-quarter fundraising. He raised approximately $274,000 and finished with $293,000 on hand.

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I understand that he doesn't want his name out there. That's not enough," U.S. District Court Judge Kimba Wood told Michael Cohen attorney Stephen Ryan on Monday. People present gasped when Ryan revealed Fox News host Sean Hannity was the client in question. (More here.)

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