Subject: POLITICO's Morning Score: Louisiana Gov.-elect John Bel Edwards on what governing will look like — 2016 Senate race takes shape — One-on-one with North Carolina Democratic Senate candidate Deborah Ross
From: "Morning Score" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 24 Nov 2015 09:01:54 -0600

By Elena Schneider | 11/24/2015 10:00 AM EDT

With Kevin Robillard and Theodoric Meyer

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 THE RECORD WITH CAMPAIGN PRO - Democrat Deborah Ross, a Senate candidate who hopes to challenge GOP Sen. Richard Burr, sat down with Campaign Pro in a Raleigh, N.C. coffee shop to discuss what will make her 2016 race different from former Sen. Kay Hagan's 2014 run. The former state legislator said it's "fun to reconnect with old friends" as she criss-crosses the battleground state to raise money and meet with potential voters. She also said she's working on improving her headstand in yoga. 

On Hagan's turnout disadvantages in 2014: "Three things happened," Ross said. First, "she didn't have the advantage of all these other statewide races" to increase turnout. Second, "redistricting happened, so that a lot of the legislative races ... were safe, so there wasn't a lot of action or activity going on there." And third, "some of the voter restrictions had been put in place," so "put all of those three things together, that's a lot to put on one person." 

But in 2016: "I have the advantage that I'm from one of the largest urban areas in the state. People know me. ... I think the combination of my boundless energy, the presidential race, and the fact that there's a lot in play this year will create a really good synergy up and down the ticket." 

On tapping into a new donor network: "My initial donor base is not the all usual suspects, so there are several people, particularly attorneys, who say, 'I've never given to a federal race before me in life, but I know you.'" 

On the North Carolina Senate race likely being a lower priority for Democrats nationally: "For now. I'll just leave those two words for you, for now."

On her primary race against Spring Lake Mayor Chris Rey and Ken Spaulding: "I do not see a primary as a chance to divide myself from the people who I'm running against. I want them on my team the next morning." 

On GOP Sen. Richard Burr: "I think the most important thing for people to know is what his positions are on the issues that matter to them every day ... because the last campaign [in 2010 with Democrat Elaine Marshall] was such a mess, there was no money or time to have the voters be educated. ... Now, we've had a couple years where there's been a bunch of votes on some of these bread and butter issues for people in North Carolina, and they'll know what those votes say." 

On her packed schedule: "I'm going to have to work 16-hour days for the next year, and that's just the way it's going to be."

NOW THAT YOU'VE WON THE BATTLE - "After beating Vitter, now comes the hard part," by Campaign Pro's Kevin Robillard:  http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5583c73702d51d9e60198fd82e02a0dd67faea82945d368126925dd296ab0be5

- NEXT UP - Senate annoucements imminent from Louisiana congressmen: GOP Reps. John Fleming and Charles Boustany are prepping official Senate announcements: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5583c73702d51d9e78a6d77703e067e300769adb995945d168c98ddf0062dff7

- WHAT'S NEXT: With the two members of Congress moving fast out of the blocks, look for state Treasurer John Kennedy, 2014 Senate candidate Rob Maness, and Public Service Commissioner Scott Angelle to make their intentions known soon. Though Fleming and Boustany were the first to move, the first four have been dancing around the 2016 Senate race for some time now, and Angelle is thought to be very interested after losing the 2015 governor's race.

Days until the 2016 election: 350.

Thanks for joining us. Email tips to the whole Campaign Pro team at [email-masked], [email-masked], [email-masked], [email-masked] and [email-masked].

You can also follow us on Twitter, where we tweet a lot about campaigns and occasionally about the Patriots: @politicoscott, @ec_schneider, @politicokevin, @theodoricmeyer and @kyledcheney.

ISAKSON STARTS DIGITAL AD CAMPAIGN - Georgia Sen. Johnny Isakson is unveiling digital ads ahead of his 2016 reelection bid, despite not having a credible Democratic or Republican opponent yet. Both ads focus on building up Isakson's conservative credentials, perhaps indicating the 70-year-old is more worried (at least for now) about a GOP primary challenge than a Democrat emerging. The ads may have another purpose: quashing any rumors that Isakson, who revealed a Parkinson's diagnosis this summer, may decide not to run for reelection. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Daniel Malloy has more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5583c73702d51d9ee6fedc0d7a2d4c47aa31b8c8552f62366aa7c5d9d43803d6

DeMAIO ACCUSER GETS PROBATION - Todd Bosnich, the former aide who accused GOP congressional candidate Carl DeMaio of sexual harassment, was sentenced to five years of probation and 240 hours of community service after pleading guilty to obstruction of justice over the summer, NBC San Diego reports. Bosnich's allegations came in the heat of DeMaio's challenge to Democratic Rep. Scott Peters. "Todd Bosnich's lies were incredibly painful, smeared my reputation, and ultimately derailed our Congressional campaign," DeMaio said in a statement. "Although no length of sentence can ever undo the damage he has done, what matters is that Bosnich was unmasked as a liar and is now a convicted felon." 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5583c73702d51d9e13e87202440fd9d12cab2df25acf8e2bf77a24d780c2402d

GETTING THE NOD - O'Halleran announces more AZ-01 endorsements from Democratic lawmakers - With his most likely primary rival out of the running, Tom O'Halleran, the only Democrat running to hold Democratic Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick's rural Arizona seat, announced a slew of endorsements on Monday from the top Democrats in the statehouse. They include state Senate Minority Leader Katie Hobbs, state House Minority Leader Eric Meyer, the Democratic whips in both Houses and seven other Democratic state lawmakers. The endorsements come weeks after Democratic state Sen. Barbara McGuire, O'Halleran's most formidable potential rival, said she wouldn't run. They're noteworthy because O'Halleran
 previously served in the state Senate and House as a Republican. Four candidates are battling it out for the Republican nomination.

PRESIDENTIAL SPEED READ - "Carson fades in polls amid tough scrutiny," by POLITICO's Katie Glueck: "Weeks of tough scrutiny are beginning to take a toll: Ben Carson appears to be fading in Iowa, and there are signs he may be hitting the wall in other early states. A CBS/YouGov poll released Sunday showed Carson slipping below 20 percent in Iowa and into third place behind Donald Trump and Ted Cruz - the first time he's been under 20 percent in a major poll there since September. Since his late October Iowa high point, according to the RealClearPolitics polling average, Carson has dropped by 8 percentage points in Iowa and by 5 points in New Hampshire. ...All of that suggests a challenging
 road ahead for the former pediatric neurosurgeon, said Patrick Murray, the director of polling at Monmouth University, which surveys in the early states." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5583c73702d51d9e7c9585212f8c032eef5b4f4067b4772d2c31c6b90f01e172

- "Kasich super PAC rolls out first Trump attack ad," by POLITICO's Daniel Strauss: "The super PAC supporting Ohio Gov. John Kasich's presidential bid released its first attack ad Monday against Donald Trump. The 47-second web ad is the first spot from the New Day for America super PAC in its planned $2.5 million campaign to knock Trump from his perch atop Republican primary polls." Watch the ad here.

- "How GOP campaigns are strategizing for Super Tuesday's delegate bonanza," by The Washington Post's Philip Rucker and Robert Costa: Ben Carson, Donald Trump, and Ted Cruz have all "swooped into Alabama" in recent weeks, which has "become an unusual magnet for Republican presidential candidates because it is one of 11 mostly Southern states holding primaries or caucuses on March 1 - the delegate bonanza known as Super Tuesday. While the February states - Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada - are expected to set the tone and winnow the field, Super Tuesday will arrive like a thunderclap, probably determining which candidates will survive for what could be a protracted battle for
 the nomination." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5583c73702d51d9ef503a867ee2197a53c11fcc91e612babd88300b6cfe0c281

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "None of our members have put their foot in their mouth but never underestimate us to screw it up because we have before." - National Republican Senatorial Committee executive director Ward Baker, in a Monday interview on the state of the Senate fight. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5583c73702d51d9e69475618e7b033157ebd67a66bd43c830b6087badfeda805

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