Subject: POLITICO's Morning Score: Welcome to May (our first big primary month!) — Romney backs Wehby in Ore. — Dems pile on to Wolf in latest debate — Margolies advertises during Flyers-Rangers playoff game — Rand works to help Brannon make N.C. runoff
From: "Morning Score" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 01 May 2014 08:04:20 -0600

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

With help from Elizabeth Titus, Tarini Parti and James Hohmann

The following newsletter is an abridged version of Campaign Pro&#39;s Morning Score. For an earlier morning read on exponentially more races - and for a more comprehensive aggregation of the day&#39;s most important campaign news - sign up for Campaign Pro today. (
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7cb85d545aaf640630c53eb69313f2dff1ea0ec537c1720ee311ff96a3423c13 
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ROMNEY BACKS WEHBY IN OREGON: Campaign Pros read it at 6 a.m.: Mitt Romney plans to endorse Monica Wehby in the Oregon GOP Senate primary today, Campaign Pro's James Hohmann reports. The governor is putting the finishing touches on a message to Wehby&#39;s email list. National Republicans are enthusiastic about Wehby, a Portland pediatric neurosuregon who they hope can put the blue state in play if 2014 becomes a wave election. Before she can take on Sen. Jeff Merkley, the first-time candidate must defeat state Rep. Jason Conger, a more-conservative challenger, in a mail primary that ends May 20. In the nomination fight, Wehby has a huge cash advantage, the backing of the Oregonian
 newspaper and has been running compelling TV ads. This is the latest primary in which Romney has chosen to play. He&#39;s supporting Joni Ernst in a crowded GOP field for Iowa Senate. Earlier this week, he backed Neel Kashkari for California governor. Last week, he endorsed Tony Strickland for House in the Golden State. And the Chamber has been running ads featuring Romney&#39;s support for Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) over a primary challenger. 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7cb85d545aaf640681dc4ccd21571ea43ae39253e2eb5a5d6eb8ef94aaff66d6 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7cb85d545aaf640681dc4ccd21571ea43ae39253e2eb5a5d6eb8ef94aaff66d6 

WELCOME TO MAY-It's the first day of May, our first big primary month of 2014. Here's a guide to key dates this month and which races to watch: May 6 (North Carolina, Ohio, Indiana): The biggest race is North Carolina's Senate race, where primary day will answer whether or not state House Speaker Thom Tillis can avoid a GOP primary runoff. Other primaries to watch: NC-03, NC-02, NC-07, OH-14 ... May 13 (Nebraska, West Virginia): Will Ben Sasse or Shane Osborn come out ahead in the Nebraska GOP Senate primary? Who wins the equally-expensive GOP gubernatorial primary? Other races to watch: WV-02 ... May 20 (Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Oregon, Pennsylvania): This is a huge primary day:
 we'll know how close Matt Bevin gets to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in the Kentucky GOP primary; which one of the four Democratic candidates in Pennsylvania will ultimately take on GOP Gov. Tom Corbett; whether Idaho Rep. Mike Simpson can survive one of the most expensive GOP House primaries of the year; and which two Georgia GOP candidates will advance to the state's July 22 runoff. Other primaries to watch: OR-Sen, PA-08, GA-01, GA-12 ... May 27 (Texas runoff): Can longtime GOP Rep. Ralph Hall survive his runoff challenge from John Ratcliffe?

As Darrell Issa weighs in in a House primary, Marjorie Margolies gets on the Rangers-Flyers airwaves and Rob Ford takes some time away from the job, here&#39;s POLITICO&#39;s Morning Score: your daily guide to the 2014 midterms.

DAYS UNTIL THE ELECTION: 187.

Good Thursday morning and welcome to the abridged version of POLITICO Campaign Pro's Morning Score. As always, send your tips, thoughts, and suggestions to 
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promorningscore .

THIS WEEK'S RATINGS CHANGES: Rothenberg, Cook and Sabato all moved NY-11 to "Lean Democrat" after Monday's indictment of GOP Rep. Michael Grimm. Cook shifted CO-Sen from "Lean Democrat" to "Toss-up" (
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7cb85d545aaf6406cd25cb0caaa67d1cece3637f4d2aa29611badd6525c3e7a9 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7cb85d545aaf6406cd25cb0caaa67d1cece3637f4d2aa29611badd6525c3e7a9 ). Rothenberg shifted FL-18 from "Toss-up/Tilt Democrat" to "Lean Democrat" (
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7cb85d545aaf64060e5ee03715e2072ec1d810e47182392bd3503e573c7b7764 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7cb85d545aaf64060e5ee03715e2072ec1d810e47182392bd3503e573c7b7764 ).

TODAY ON CAMPAIGN PRO -

http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7cb85d545aaf640637e0342e7d6b90a4e8aee9865af93a3f4729772641260d33 
Democrat shoots, scores on NHL playoff TV ad 

http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7cb85d545aaf640666fd469a066a5fb5ec316a5a27fec764b9aade9579fe9699 
Hohmann's take: A few bright spots for Dems in NBC-WSJ poll 

http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7cb85d545aaf64064f8e7d200abe2e1e33c1d5a00b710a806de16c2ba074887e 
Groups say TV political ad disclosure rules violated 

ABOUT LAST NIGHT - DEMS PILE ON TOM WOLF IN DEBATE: Things are getting ugly in Pennsylvania. With less than three weeks until the May 20 gubernatorial primary, the other Democrats have realized they only have so much time to make their move on businessman Tom Wolf - and that was very apparent Wednesday night at an education-focused forum in Philadelphia. Both Rep. Allyson Schwartz and state treasurer Rob McCord hit Wolf over his ties to two men who were involved in separate big criminal cases, with McCord saying, "What were you thinking?" and Schwartz piling on: "He defended someone who has already been convicted as a state representative, gone to jail and is working to overturn his
 conviction so he can take his pension" (
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7cb85d545aaf64069cceff859e51a634d2d0caab91483cba9a1329b26f1fefb4 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7cb85d545aaf64069cceff859e51a634d2d0caab91483cba9a1329b26f1fefb4 ). McCord went even further on the subject earlier Wednesday, when he told the Philadelphia Inquirer's editorial board that he's "going to be introducing the words 'racism' and 'character' and 'judgment' into the conversation" over Wolf's ties to one of these men (
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7cb85d545aaf6406ebbdae04bc2dc0ce9701c0a778a49a19c3d24cedd630f91b 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7cb85d545aaf6406ebbdae04bc2dc0ce9701c0a778a49a19c3d24cedd630f91b ). He also hit Wolf's business in his newest TV ad, which criticizes Wolf's company for basing operations outside of Pennsylvania (
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7cb85d545aaf640625bfef540c6b63c7aae042cec3ad89463ca1bb226cb3399e 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7cb85d545aaf640625bfef540c6b63c7aae042cec3ad89463ca1bb226cb3399e ). The candidates debate again tonight, so we'll keep an eye out on how many sparks fly there.

CORBETT GOES AFTER TWO DEMS: He may not know who his general-election opponent will be yet, but Tom Corbett is already hitting both Schwartz and Wolf in a new radio ad, calling Schwartz an "extreme liberal" and Wolf was "a job-killing bureaucrat." With three weeks to go until the Democratic primary, one might assume Corbett is trying to influence the results. It would seem to be an odd strategy for meddling in the race if Team Corbett wanted to face Schwartz. John Brabender, Corbett's ad consultant, denied that the Corbett camp had any interest in boosting or tearing down any particular candidate, just that it felt it was time to respond to the Democratic candidates' attacks on Corbett.
 "All these Democratic candidates are ... out there attacking the governor," he told Score. "We're not just going to give them a free pass - we want to make sure our voice is in the narrative, and that we start contrasting against whoever our likely opponent will be for the fall." That said, the radio ad is running statewide, not just in Republican-heavy areas - which means Corbett's campaign is trying to get it in front of as much of the state as possible. Listen: 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7cb85d545aaf64064c3072bedc268e423ec9134d86b55b5fb7d9a0e806f74843 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7cb85d545aaf64064c3072bedc268e423ec9134d86b55b5fb7d9a0e806f74843 

PAUL TO STUMP FOR BRANNON IN N.C.: Just as it was looking like state House speaker Thom Tillis might be able to avoid a runoff next week in North Carolina's GOP Senate primary, Sen. Rand Paul told POLITICO he would be heading down to the Tar Heel state to stump for Greg Brannon on the eve of the May 6 primary. Rallying the libertarian base in support of Brannon, who has been polling in second place, could keep Tillis from clinching the nomination on Tuesday and drag the primary on for two more months. Paul will join Brannon at a rally in Charlotte at noon on Monday. Following Paul's announcement, conservative talk radio host Mark Levin also endorsed Brannon Wednesday. Read the full story
 from Manu Raju here: 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7cb85d545aaf6406ea445d320214d894576454c0d3164842cacf6beaceab8254 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7cb85d545aaf6406ea445d320214d894576454c0d3164842cacf6beaceab8254 

QUICK HITS ACROSS THE MAP - Quick takes from races around the country

--AR-SEN, AR-GOV: A new automated PPP poll found Mark Pryor and Tom Cotton tied in the Senate race, while Asa Hutchinson has a modest advantage in the gubernatorial contest. 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7cb85d545aaf6406b2978a232c3e79c4b9469e24e5ca8aa4cfdddcc678c8a96f 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7cb85d545aaf6406b2978a232c3e79c4b9469e24e5ca8aa4cfdddcc678c8a96f 

-MS-Sen: Club for Growth Action released radio and TV ads suggesting GOP Sen. Thad Cochran refuses to debate primary rival Chris McDaniel because his record is "too liberal." 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7cb85d545aaf6406bb8480323b6168202642a7f8242736ac43dec1482a7f79cf 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7cb85d545aaf6406bb8480323b6168202642a7f8242736ac43dec1482a7f79cf , 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7cb85d545aaf6406e7f6b5454dc49d09a226c629193da6b7aa0b1d1a26f80e21 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7cb85d545aaf6406e7f6b5454dc49d09a226c629193da6b7aa0b1d1a26f80e21 

-NE-Sen: Republican Ben Sasse picked up an endorsement from the 56,000-member Nebraska Farm Bureau Federation, which called him their "overwhelming choice." 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7cb85d545aaf6406f992cac4747bac3e149da1503d5729031685a85e41d8ea53 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7cb85d545aaf6406f992cac4747bac3e149da1503d5729031685a85e41d8ea53 

-ID-02: Madison Action Fund released a TV ad attempting to tie GOP Rep. Mike Simpson to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. The ad will air through the May 20 primary. 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7cb85d545aaf640662c57d402b88a7dcda385b52b783494480f9a536da80b6a0 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7cb85d545aaf640662c57d402b88a7dcda385b52b783494480f9a536da80b6a0 

-IA-Gov: GOP Gov. Terry Branstad is getting a boost from New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who will do two fundraising events for him. 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7cb85d545aaf6406f20a7f79c7508bd360d5463f9d71aebde2e947a037067d2c 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7cb85d545aaf6406f20a7f79c7508bd360d5463f9d71aebde2e947a037067d2c 

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "He acknowledges he has a substance abuse problem and he wants to do something about it." - Dennis Morris, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford's lawyer, on why Ford is stepping back from the job 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7cb85d545aaf64065bfa2ad40423d932d65b9d41906bd43a4ab8c9809792d48b 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7cb85d545aaf64065bfa2ad40423d932d65b9d41906bd43a4ab8c9809792d48b 

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