Subject: POLITICO's Morning Score: Kentucky GOP gov candidate took money from white supremacist -- National security election makes Dems nervous
From: "Morning Score" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 23 Jun 2015 08:01:12 -0600

By Elena Schneider

With Kevin Robillard

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. (
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FIRST IN SCORE: BEVIN TOOK MONEY FROM WHITE SUPREMACIST LEADER - Republicans have been racing to return or donate political cash from the white supremacist leader who allegedly inspired accused murderer Dylann Roof, but one recipient of Earl Holt's money hasn't been reported yet: Matt Bevin, the unlikely standard-bearer of the Kentucky GOP in this year's gubernatorial election. Holt, who identified himself as a "slumlord" from Longview, Texas, gave Bevin $500 in November 2013 when the businessman was running against now-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, according to FEC records. Holt is the president of the St. Louis-based Council of Conservative Citizens, which Roof mentioned in a
 manifesto he wrote before allegedly killing nine people at a black church in Charleston, S.C. Bevin will face Democratic Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway in November. 
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- Holt's donation to Bevin is potentially extra damaging for two reasons. First, it builds on a Democratic narrative tying Bevin to the right-wing fringe, including his attendance at pro-cockfighting rally last year. Second, while many of the candidates Holt gave to - including Sens. Thom Tillis and Tom Cotton - don't face voters for years, Bevin is on the ballot in just under five months.

- Democrats also note that Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) received donations from Holt; both say they won't keep the cash.

NATIONAL SECURITY ELECTION LOOMS - "Democrats work to blunt GOP attacks on global affairs in 2016," by POLITICO's Nahal Toosi: "Democrats may nominate a former secretary of state as their presidential nominee, but they're still worried Republicans could win the 2016 foreign policy debate. On Tuesday, a progressive network of foreign affairs experts will release a document aimed in part at influencing the White House race, one of several formal and informal attempts in the works aimed at shaping an already lively back-and-forth on America's role in the world. ... With the election still a year and a half away, Democrats insist they have plenty of confidence and time to prepare. ... Still,
 there is a lingering worry that Republican allegations that President Barack Obama has diminished America's stature will overshadow Democratic efforts to promote solutions to a host of global challenges." 
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Days until the 2015 election: 133. Days until the 2016 election: 504.

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HOGAN VOWS TO BEAT CANCER - Campaign Pro's Kevin Robillard reported: "Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said Monday that he has been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma - a 'very advanced and very aggressive' form of cancer that Hogan said has spread throughout his body. Hogan, a Republican first elected last year, said that he would continue to serve as governor during his treatment, which will include chemotherapy. ... The governor told reporters that doctors weren't sure how advanced the cancer was - but said it was 'at least very advanced Stage 3, if not Stage 4.' ... 'The best news is that my odds of getting through this and beating this are much, much better than the odds I had of beating
 Anthony Brown,' Hogan joked."

- And in Maine - "Angus King to have surgery for prostate cancer," by POLITICO's Burgess Everett: "Independent Maine Sen. Angus King will have surgery to treat prostate cancer on Friday and intends to run for reelection in 2018, the senator said Monday. King said his doctors caught the cancer after a blood test in April showed abnormalities. He told his family about the diagnosis last month and will undergo surgery Friday. The 71-year-old lawmaker said he doesn't expect his treatment to affect his current Senate service or his plans to run for a second term." 
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YARMUTH STAYS IN - Campaign Pro's Kevin Robillard reported: "Rep. John Yarmuth, the only Democrat in Kentucky&#39;s federal delegation, announced Monday he would run for reelection. ... Yarmuth, a five-term member who won reelection in 2014 with 63 percent of the vote, had publicly considered retiring in a local television interview last year. ... [he] said other Democrats need to do more to promote younger members of the caucus, noting House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy was elected to the House the same year he was....'I think a lot of older members are going to leave,' he said."

STAFFING UP - Campaign Pro's Kevin Robillard reported: "Indiana GOP Senate candidate Eric Holcomb has tapped Justin Garrett - who served as executive director of the state party when Holcomb was chairman - as his campaign manager. Garrett also served as political director for former Gov. Mitch Daniels&#39; successful 2008 reelection bid (Holcomb was Daniels' campaign manager) and worked for Daniels in the governor&#39;s office."

ICYMI - POLL: DEMS SLIGHT EARLY EDGE IN SENATE - Campaign Pro's Steven Shepard reported: "A new Quinnipiac University poll out Monday shows Democrats would have the early advantage in the race to replace outgoing Florida GOP Sen. Marco Rubio - regardless of whether Patrick Murphy or the more controversial Alan Grayson is the party's nominee. Other polls in Ohio and Pennsylvania render a split decision: Democrats appear to have a better shot at knocking off Rob Portman, the first-term Ohio GOP senator, than his counterpart in the neighboring Keystone State, Pat Toomey." 
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OPPO RESEARCH - American Bridge, a liberal super PAC, will make the Koch Brothers and their conservative organizations the targets for its opposition research and will invest heavily in tying the oil tycoons to Republican presidential candidates, the New York Times reported. 
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PRESIDENTIAL SPEED READ - "Inside the Republican reversal on the Confederate flag," by POLITICO's Eli Stokols and Katie Glueck: "The carefully staged announcement came at 4 p.m. Monday, when a bipartisan group of black and white South Carolina elected officials filed in behind their governor as she called for the removal of a Confederate battle flag from the State Capitol grounds. But it had been in the works since last Friday, ever since the pressure started to build in the aftermath of last Wednesday's fatal shooting of nine African-American churchgoers by an avowed white supremacist in Charleston. After a weekend that proved to be a political disaster for the GOP ... top party officials
 and several campaigns quickly fell in line behind the decision to remove the flag. And for South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Sen. Lindsey Graham and the state's new Republican Party, the wrenching debate provided an opportunity, both politically and economically." 
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TECH TALK ON TRAIL - "Bush hits Obama over massive government cyber breach," by POLITICO's Daniel Strauss: "Jeb Bush on Monday used the recent hacking of the Office of Personnel Management to bash President Barack Obama on cybersecurity and plant a flag on how he would handle cyber threats. Bush, who has been sharpening his attacks on Obama on the campaign trail in recent weeks, posted on the web platform Medium that the recent hacking of OPM shows the Obama administration doesn't take those types of "threats seriously." The post comes as the Obama administration deals with the fallout of a huge breach of federal employees' data." 
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POLL PUTS CLINTON AT TOP - Hillary Clinton holds a "whopping 60-point margin over her nearest Democratic rival and commanding leads nationally against her would-be Republican opponents," POLITICO's Adam B. Lerner reported. The new WSJ/NBC News poll finds Clinton stacking up well against the three top Republican matchups ... former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush: 48-40, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker: 51-37 ... Florida Sen. Marco Rubio: 50-40." 
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- But, unsurprisingly, Clinton wouldn't do as well in Arkansas. A new poll puts former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee as beating Clinton in a head-to-head contest, UALR reported. 
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- In New Jersey, GOP Gov. Chris Christie's approval rating is down to a paltry 30 percent, according to a new Fairleigh Dickinson University poll out this morning. 
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DONALD J. TRUMP FOR PRESIDENT, INC. - FILES FEC PAPERWORK - POLITICO's Tarini Parti reported: "The one-page statement of candidacy was hand-delivered to the FEC on Monday. [Donald] Trump had 15 days to send the document to the agency. Based on the document, the business tycoon's campaign committee will be called Donald J. Trump for President, Inc." 
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CODA-QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I do intend to run for reelection in three years, only my poor little prostate won't be along for the ride." - Sen. Angus King (I-Maine)

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