Subject: POLITICO’s Morning Score: RGA pushes back against Burke in new TV spot—House Majority PAC defends Rahall in WV-03—FreedomWorks endorses a round of GOP incumbents—Scott Brown’s first weekend as a candidate—RNC autopsy, one year later
From: "Morning Score" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 17 Mar 2014 04:00:00 -0600

By Emily Schultheis ([email-masked]; Twitter: @emilyrs) and Jose DelReal (
mailto:[email-masked] 
[email-masked] ; Twitter: @jdelreal)

FIRST IN SCORE-RGA PUSHES BACK AGAINST BURKE ADS IN WISCONSIN: The ad war has definitely begun in Wisconsin-and the Republican Governors Association is out with its latest spot in the race, pushing back against Democrat Mary Burke's first TV ad and its claims about GOP Gov. Scott Walker's ability to create jobs. 'Mary Burke's attacks on Scott Walker have been called &#39;false and ridiculous&#39; by non-partisan fact checkers. Burke is desperate to hide her failed record on jobs,' the ad says, quoting from news reports talking about the ad. 'Mary Burke: Dishonest attacks to hide her failure on jobs.' Burke's original ad said Wisconsin had 72,000 more jobs when she was state commerce
 secretary than it does today, and that under Walker "job prospects are down to 45th in the nation and the layoffs continue." (Her ad also decried the RGA's ad spending in the race.) Walker's campaign hit back with an ad of its own that "fact checks" Burke's claims, saying she's misleading voters in order to hide an "abysmal" job creation record of her own. Watch the new RGA ad: 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9139cf0adafb65d7005fa05ded148222f808135d4d3a19d986d8066f11170969 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9139cf0adafb65d7005fa05ded148222f808135d4d3a19d986d8066f11170969 

EXCLUSIVE-HOUSE MAJORITY PAC GOES UP WITH THIRD RAHALL AD: The pro-Democratic group House Majority PAC is up on the air with its third ad in West Virginia's 3rd district today, continuing its efforts to defend Democratic incumbent Rep. Nick Rahall. The ad features Rick and Terri Ryan of Sod, W.Va. "For 35 years [Rick] worked in the mines, and I'd worry about him every day-now I worry we both could get hurt if Evan Jenkins goes to Congress," Terri says. "He vowed to repeal black lung benefits and supports letting insurance companies charge women more for health care. Mr. Jenkins, we can't go back to those days." The buy is for an additional $60,000 in the Charleston-Huntington and
 Bluefield-Beckley markets for a week, starting Tuesday. Rahall has consistently topped Republicans' House targets list for 2014, and an internal poll from the NRCC out last week showed Jenkins beating Rahall by 14 points (
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9139cf0adafb65d7f8eaf30c1bc7670d7b390a734a1e3593e9f260de41bc8f3e 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9139cf0adafb65d7f8eaf30c1bc7670d7b390a734a1e3593e9f260de41bc8f3e ). Watch: 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9139cf0adafb65d750b2e3c63b0404989e8c58de86d312a88dabcfab210fa3cd 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9139cf0adafb65d750b2e3c63b0404989e8c58de86d312a88dabcfab210fa3cd 

DEM LEGACIES FACE TOUGH RACES IN 2014: POLITICO's James Hohmann looks at the number of incumbent Democrats, as well as new challengers, who are hoping a famous last name will help push them over the line to victory: "Pryor, this once Democratic bedrock's last remaining Democratic representative in Washington, openly acknowledges that his fate in the race - one in a handful that will decide control of the Senate - rests in part upon the surname that his popular father, former Arkansas senator and governor David Pryor, made famous. ... Pryor is one of several southern Democrats relying on family ties to prevail in difficult Senate races this year. In Louisiana, vulnerable Sen. Mary Landrieu's
 father, Moon Landrieu, earned the enduring favor of African-Americans by integrating New Orleans City Hall as mayor in the 1970s. Kentucky Senate candidate Alison Lundergan Grimes is the daughter of former state Democratic Party chairman and longtime party boss Jerry Lundergan. In Georgia, retired Sen. Sam Nunn's decades as a defense hawk and outspoken moderate gave his daughter, nonprofit executive Michelle Nunn, instant credibility as a first-time Senate candidate. And Colorado Sen. Mark Udall is the son the late Mo Udall, who spent three decades in Congress and sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 1976." 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9139cf0adafb65d768b4d2215a6a68ab80de571aed18971bef38d157dfdc5d16 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9139cf0adafb65d768b4d2215a6a68ab80de571aed18971bef38d157dfdc5d16 

As Scott Brown campaigns, Brian Sandoval coasts to reelection and the RNC autopsy turns one, here's POLITICO's Morning Score: your daily guide to the 2014 midterms.

DAYS UNTIL THE ELECTION: 232.

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Good Monday morning and welcome to Morning Score. As always, send your tips, thoughts, and suggestions to 
mailto:[email-masked] 
[email-masked]  or tweet them to @emilyrs.

FIVE QUESTIONS FOR THE WEEK AHEAD-

1) Which other outside groups go on the air in New Hampshire now that Scott Brown is in?

2) Will anyone come close to catching up with Bruce Rauner in the Illinois GOP gubernatorial primary?

3) Do Rodney Davis and Ann Callis have any trouble winning their respective primaries in Illinois' 13th district?

4) In the wake of FL-13, will any other House Democrats announce they're retiring?

5) Facing a tougher reelection campaign and attack ads from outside groups, when will Mark Udall tap into his nearly $5 million war chest and respond?

FILING DEADLINES THIS WEEK: Today: Maine ... Thursday: Utah.

NEW THIS MORNING-FREEDOMWORKS BACKS, DEFENDS GOP INCUMBENTS: The tea party group FreedomWorks is usually known for backing challengers to incumbent GOP politicians, but today FreedomWorks is announcing a series of endorsements aimed at protecting conservative incumbents. "These are the champions of pro-freedom legislation, and grassroots-backed representatives who came to Washington and actually did what they promised to do on the campaign trail," FreedomWorks President Matt Kibbe says in a statement. The candidates who earned a FreedomWorks nod are: Oklahoma Sen. Jim Inhofe, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, Idaho Sen. Jim Risch; and Reps. Thomas Massie (KY-04), Matt Salmon (AZ-05), Tom
 Graves (GA-14), Jim Bridenstine (OK-01), Mark Sanford (SC-01), Louie Gohmert (TX-01), Tim Huelskamp (KS-01), Ron DeSantis (FL-06) and Ted Yoho (FL-03). 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9139cf0adafb65d71c88eecdf0cb71519c56074a8a230548f47a12a323742981 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9139cf0adafb65d71c88eecdf0cb71519c56074a8a230548f47a12a323742981 

SCOTT BROWN'S FIRST GRANITE STATE CAMPAIGN WEEKEND: The former Massachusetts senator, who took clear steps last week toward a bid to challenge New Hampshire Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, hit the campaign trail this weekend for a series of meetings with activists and "listening tour" stops across the state. He also spoke to the Northeast Republican Leadership Conference this weekend, telling activists there that "a big political wave is about to break in America" (
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9139cf0adafb65d778820808cee692dd55f9c4cae6694cb593f46ab6171ec070 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9139cf0adafb65d778820808cee692dd55f9c4cae6694cb593f46ab6171ec070 ). In the wake of his exploratory committee announcement, Fox News officially ended his contract (
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9139cf0adafb65d7578ce78ba6b0e1f03e943a48d612c11cd7e4a6344dc5db72 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9139cf0adafb65d7578ce78ba6b0e1f03e943a48d612c11cd7e4a6344dc5db72 ). Democratic groups, including Senate Majority PAC and the League of Conservation Voters, have long been running ads against Brown in New Hampshire in the event he decided to run; now that it's clear he will run, American Crossroads is dropping some significant cash to hit Shaheen: the group bought $600,000 in ads for him that will run this week (
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9139cf0adafb65d7e691db2d293cd842e9f0a01ff081448b3683a9723bfce159 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9139cf0adafb65d7e691db2d293cd842e9f0a01ff081448b3683a9723bfce159 ). And Shaheen, now that she has a real race on her hands, spent the weekend raising cash on the West Coast, attending fundraisers in Seattle, Los Angeles and San Francisco (
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9139cf0adafb65d734eca56ae4bb807357922922fd58d9fd950a2e0c5d2449ba 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9139cf0adafb65d734eca56ae4bb807357922922fd58d9fd950a2e0c5d2449ba ).

-Shaheen camp pushes 'People's Pledge' issue: Shaheen's campaign is already on offense against Brown, and will focus this week on his refusal to sign the same "People's Pledge" against outside ad money that he did in his 2012 race against now-Sen. Elizabeth Warren. "Scott Brown proposed The People's Pledge because he said Massachusetts deserved better than a campaign with third party groups drowning out the candidates. We think New Hampshire deserves better too," Shaheen campaign manager Mike Vlachich will say in a release this morning. (The Shaheen camp sent Brown a copy of the People's Pledge on Saturday, but Brown hasn't signed it, calling Shaheen "hypocritical" for suggesting it in the
 first place.)

THE RNC AUTOPSY, ONE YEAR LATER: POLITICO's James Hohmann sits down with RNC Chairman Reince Priebus to talk through the biggest changes since the committee released its "Growth and Opportunity Project" last year: "The 41-year-old Priebus, who is in his fourth year as chairman, is trying to transform the RNC into a more permanent, year-round operation by making atypical off-year investments in the digital realm and in field staff. He's especially proud of headway on the technological side. As suggested in last year's report, the RNC now has a chief technology officer, a chief digital officer and a chief data officer. It opened an office in Silicon Valley and launched an initiative called
 Para Bellum Labs to experiment with new ideas in a start-up-like environment. ... One of Priebus's top priorities is one of the more sensitive subjects for today's Republican Party: attracting more ethnic and racial minorities to its ranks.... Priebus has hired hundreds of people across the country to focus on engaging minority groups such as blacks, Hispanics and Asians, through special activities, attending events and advertising. Some of the RNC operatives focus in particular on cultivating relationships with media outlets that cater to minority communities." 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9139cf0adafb65d746de38acdb63389a9c3c007ae46ccb87261d5af2c2f11ee1 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9139cf0adafb65d746de38acdb63389a9c3c007ae46ccb87261d5af2c2f11ee1 

IDAHO, IOWA, NEVADA FILING DEADLINES: Another round of filing deadlines, another fresh round of races in which it's now clear which candidates will be on the ballot. In Nevada, where Democrats once hoped to run a competitive race against GOP Gov. Brian Sandoval, the incumbent drew no serious challengers from either party (
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9139cf0adafb65d7b02ef556c84b34b11efd5aac8b635d09476993970a2f9e7c 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9139cf0adafb65d7b02ef556c84b34b11efd5aac8b635d09476993970a2f9e7c ). In Iowa, it looks like GOP Gov. Terry Branstad will have a primary challenger after all: Republican Tom Hoefling has submitted the necessary signatures to challenge him, per the Des Moines Register (
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9139cf0adafb65d72ce53b974564da57615cb389a92cdc4122f37605a0d16a22 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9139cf0adafb65d72ce53b974564da57615cb389a92cdc4122f37605a0d16a22 ). In Idaho, former Rep. Richard Stallings is the lone Democrat running for the seat currently held by GOP Rep. Mike Simpson (who also faces a primary challenge from Republican Bryan Smith) Stallings, a conservative Democrat, held the district from 1984 to 1992; he ran for it again in 1998 but was defeated by Simpson in the general election that year. 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9139cf0adafb65d7d929855a6a902356e1b9637211a88127081f4de31c918c27 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9139cf0adafb65d7d929855a6a902356e1b9637211a88127081f4de31c918c27 

ACROSS THE MAP-Quick takes from races around the country:

SENATE-

-AK-Sen first look: GOP candidate Dan Sullivan's campaign is out with a new web video where his wife explains their story and how they met: 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9139cf0adafb65d71ce2079c3f2c490f69f819ed3cfe2d78f70b7b54adcb98fe 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9139cf0adafb65d71ce2079c3f2c490f69f819ed3cfe2d78f70b7b54adcb98fe 

-MI-Sen sneak peek: Democrat Gary Peters is going up with an online display ad buy today, hitting GOP candidate Terri Lynn Land over her stance on the auto bailout. 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9139cf0adafb65d76e97150c27fe9518d6545aba4c51ca14e786ca088e55e204 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9139cf0adafb65d76e97150c27fe9518d6545aba4c51ca14e786ca088e55e204 

-CO-Sen: A new ad by Americans for Prosperity hitting Sen. Mark Udall on the Affordable Care Act begins airing today, part of a $850,000 ad buy over three weeks. 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9139cf0adafb65d71742752e330354e172b3ad7ebc34579361a06abd25e106c0 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9139cf0adafb65d71742752e330354e172b3ad7ebc34579361a06abd25e106c0 

-KY-Sen: Texas Gov. Rick Perry endorsed Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who is being challenged in the GOP primary by Matt Bevin, at the Lincoln Reagan Dinner Saturday. 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9139cf0adafb65d703da0ee45dc91b3b740e959432d493ff8028f2cdfeca885f 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9139cf0adafb65d703da0ee45dc91b3b740e959432d493ff8028f2cdfeca885f 

HOUSE-

-NY-21: Democrat Aaron Woolf defended his lack of media interviews since he announced his candidacy-which has drawn criticism from Republicans-saying he wanted to talk to voters in the district first. 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9139cf0adafb65d7ae904c2ff7d847f475df83b24c1ed9f4a3ab18c929498a9b 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9139cf0adafb65d7ae904c2ff7d847f475df83b24c1ed9f4a3ab18c929498a9b 

-NJ-01: George Norcross, a prominent Pennsylvania Democrat who co-owns the The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News, inadvertently sent fund-raising solicitations to employees of the newspapers on behalf of brother Donald Norcross&#39;s campaign, raising the Newspaper Guild's concerns.
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=bb9a6b7bdd2ae91b899e49edf61887d3a34bdc5552e2e17baaee51fe0f581e22 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=bb9a6b7bdd2ae91b899e49edf61887d3a34bdc5552e2e17baaee51fe0f581e22 

-TX-04: John Ratcliffe, who is challenging incumbent GOP Rep. Ralph Hall in the primary runoff, said he would only serve "four to five terms" if elected to the House. 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=bb9a6b7bdd2ae91b94524e400eebe6c9aca4b1217ab08f238c14211d9e4c7f76 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=bb9a6b7bdd2ae91b94524e400eebe6c9aca4b1217ab08f238c14211d9e4c7f76 

GOVERNORS-

-AR-Gov sneak peek: The Arkansas Democratic Party is hitting GOP gubernatorial candidate Asa Hutchinson as a D.C. lobbyist in a new web video today. 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=bb9a6b7bdd2ae91bda3ffb6170cd482f9a42404ab9d0d99417b7dc624b036a37 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=bb9a6b7bdd2ae91bda3ffb6170cd482f9a42404ab9d0d99417b7dc624b036a37 

-NY-Gov: In a move that will shock no one, Donald Trump announced he would not be running for governor. 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=bb9a6b7bdd2ae91b4a170aef713ccbf36db42978f96c8a9c549a6a4c9ee0336d 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=bb9a6b7bdd2ae91b4a170aef713ccbf36db42978f96c8a9c549a6a4c9ee0336d 

-KY-Gov (2015): Former Louisville Metro Councilman Hal Heiner is expected to formally announce his bid for governor on Tuesday. 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=bb9a6b7bdd2ae91b7d24ce369c3c3b5d52ccdae8031bc38370054afb74e0a9de 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=bb9a6b7bdd2ae91b7d24ce369c3c3b5d52ccdae8031bc38370054afb74e0a9de 

CODA-QUOTE OF THE DAY: 'The truth is, generally I look very sharp in jeans.' - President Obama to Ryan Seacrest. 
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