Subject: POLITICO's Morning Score: Court approves new maps in Florida — Democrats still recruiting in key House districts — New super PAC backs Johnson in Wisconsin
From: "Morning Score" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 03 Dec 2015 09:02:52 -0600

By Theodoric Meyer | 12/03/2015 10:01 AM EDT

With Elena Schneider, Kevin Robillard, and Scott Bland

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)

SETTING BOUNDARIES - Florida Supreme Court approves new congressional maps: The Florida Supreme Court approved a new congressional map on Wednesday, officially reshaping district boundaries - and several incumbents' reelection prospects - ahead of the 2016 election after a long-running legal battle. Several districts will see dramatic changes, including Democratic Rep. Gwen Graham's 2nd District, GOP Rep. Daniel Webster's 10th District, GOP Rep. David Jolly's 13th District and GOP Rep. Carlos Curbelo's 26th District.

- The most immediate effects of the ruling: Graham's district is set to become overwhelmingly Republican, leaving a member-versus-member primary against Rep. Corrine Brown in a minority-opportunity district as perhaps Graham's only chance of staying in the House. In Curbelo's swing district, the share of the vote that President Barack Obama won in 2012 goes up from 53 percent to over 55 percent, one of the highest marks in any GOP-held seat. Jolly has already left his newly Democratic leaning seat to run for Senate, while Webster has said he cannot win his district as drawn.

- Florida's 6th and 7th Districts, currently represented by Republican Reps. Ron DeSantis and John Mica, also see major changes and could become wild cards. The new lines also split Democratic Reps. Ted Deutch and Lois Frankel's old districts. Deutch responded Wednesday by announcing he'll run in the new Broward County-based 22nd District, the number Frankel represents now, the Sun-Sentinel reported. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=f577c93103eefa790b98ab7826a5682bdd7104a26caf389b1ab1e50964a284cc Frankel said she'll shift to the 21st District, now "contained completely in Palm Beach County," as she told the Palm Beach Post. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=f577c93103eefa794016a2a54395a0c48ce58e05fda17733ae0d57340931ca3f

- The fighting isn't over: As our POLITICO Florida colleague Matt Dixon writes, the new court map doesn't end the redistricting wrangling. Brown has filed a federal lawsuit claiming the new plan dilutes black voting power by dropping the African-American share of her district to 45 percent from 50 percent, "a move Brown has said means it will no longer elect a black candidate." (Obama still won it overwhelmingly twice.) http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=f577c93103eefa79bcb01f6fb33e4b554dd50ea4bab47673a5eb61491bcd3e50

THE RECRUITING GAME - "The holes in Democrats' House map," by Campaign Pro's Theodoric Meyer and Elena Schneider: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=f577c93103eefa790ba0b7ff4e8bb6f452bab72cec23ce708f0b4093453417d4

Days until the 2016 election: 341.

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TOP OF THE TICKET - "GOP wrestles with prospect of a Trump-led ticket," by POLITICO's Ben Schreckinger and Kevin Robillard in Manassas, Va.: "On Wednesday, a memo surfaced from the National Republican Senatorial Committee that envisioned Trump as the party nominee and advised its candidates to embrace some of Trump's themes and traits while denouncing some of his "wacky" and politically radioactive comments. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, meanwhile, is stepping up its efforts to tie Republican House candidates to the current frontrunner for their party's nomination. That includes instructing the committee's opposition researchers to look for comments made by Republican
 candidates about immigrants, women and other groups that echo Trump's rhetoric and can be used to paint them with the same brush, according to a DCCC official." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=f577c93103eefa79a9d5b3ac1cbcc96e982ef3d6e21b33ceee7bccb8fe8ac338

- Read the full memo from Ward Baker, the NRSC's executive director, on how GOP House candidates should handle Donald Trump (which was first reported by The Washington Post): http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=f577c93103eefa796b0c9b4c90ac3ccd5e171b52fa36f21213db4ae305eec8b6

OUTSIDE MONEY - "Pro-Ron Johnson super PAC launched by former chief strategist," by POLITICO's Alex Isenstadt: Sen. Ron Johnson's former chief strategist has launched a new super PAC to help the Wisconsin Republican navigate a perilous path to reelection in 2016. Republicans say they expect the group, called Let America Work, to be the central super PAC backing Johnson, who is trailing Feingold by significant margins in several recent polls. Let America Work will be spearheaded by Mark Stephens, a former executive director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee who served as Johnson's chief strategist when he beat Democratic incumbent Russ Feingold in 2010. The former senator is
 running against Johnson again in 2016." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=f577c93103eefa7987261254a4e28687d9e27bdab6231f9445a87d1e326aa892

REPUBLICAN RIFT - "Freedom Caucus vs. McConnell on campaign finance plan," by POLITICO's Lauren French: "The House Freedom Caucus on Wednesday came out against a controversial proposal by Senate Majority Mitch McConnell that would eliminate caps on the amount parties are permitted to spend in coordination with candidates." Proponents of the proposal "say it would help party committees reassert power that they've lost in the post-Citizens United era. Unlike outside groups that can spend unlimited sums, the parties are subject to strict spending limits and reporting rules. But critics of the revision say it would give mega-donors even more sway over individual lawmakers and help GOP leaders
 block candidates who don't back their agenda." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=f577c93103eefa7948f321fdca5dfc6ad24bc46018bb40d8d4839b936dc6e8a4

GETTING IN - Latina Democrat gets in the race to replace Hinojosa in TX-15: Democrat Dolly Elizondo, a small businesswoman, has filed to run to replace Democratic Rep. Rub&eacute;n Hinojosa in Texas' 15th District. She plans to announce her bid today. Hinojosa is retiring after two decades in Congress. If elected, she'd be the first Latina representative from Texas, according to her campaign. Her candidacy could also attract the backing of EMILY's List. "We are watching this race closely," Rachel Thomas, an EMILY's List spokeswoman, said in a statement. "Getting more women elected in seats like this is a critical part of EMILY's List's mission." Several Democrats are already running for the
 seat, which is solidly Democratic.

PRESIDENTIAL SPEED READ - "Clinton makes gun control a defining cause," by POLITICO's Annie Karni: Hillary Clinton has met numerous times with members of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America on the campaign trail. "Now, with yet another mass shooting striking fear across the country after a reported 14 people were killed and another 17 injured in a shooting rampage in San Bernardino, California, Clinton's embrace of gun control is on the verge of becoming a defining issue in the campaign, with all the political benefits and detriments associated with confronting the National Rifle Association and 2nd Amendment activists across the country." 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=f577c93103eefa79d7100c68ea949fd021107c47f32d3124c37ada33d7542100

- "Marco Rubio's N.H. surge is riddled with doubts," by The Boston Globe's James Pindell: "As Senator Marco Rubio has climbed the polls, the Floridian lacks one element that has proved to be pivotal for previous winners of New Hampshire's presidential primary: a robust ground game that can generate enthusiasm and support when voters go to the polls." He has only seven paid staffers in the state, while Jeb Bush has 20 and Donald Trump has 15. And he showed up more than an hour late to a town hall on Monday. "He is not helping himself with barely showing up and then being late when he does," said James Gaisser, a carpenter and GOP voter who left before Rubio arrived. 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=f577c93103eefa796f4b46e73d875e19d2aad50bc3d93fa548a1b7f3bbaaa7e2

- "Carson tries to correct course on national security," by POLITICO's Katie Glueck in Spartanburg, S.C.: In the past week, Ben Carson has visited refugees in Jordan, talked up plans for dealing with the Islamic State, and attempted to demonstrate commander in chief credibility at a presidential forum here in South Carolina. But this course correction on national security has arrived too late. According to nearly two dozen Republican voters, activists and operatives in South Carolina, Carson has lost his momentum in this first-in-the-South primary state." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=f577c93103eefa7987853dda3a97493308c96d20a4cbfb5681378560ffdd59d7

- "Top fundraiser quits Ben Carson's campaign amid internal strife," by The Wall Street Journal's Reid Epstein: "Bill Millis, an heir to a High Point, N.C., sock-manufacturing fortune, told the retired neurosurgeon in an email Wednesday morning that he is leaving the campaign's three-man board, Mr. Millis said in an interview. He still believes Mr. Carson would make the best president, he said, but is no longer confident the staff values his input." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=f577c93103eefa79459f8ddb2348268ce4c1262b53fbd296b07043ee3f6729df

- Two veterans of Scott Walker's short-lived campaign have landed with a firm that's connected to Ted Cruz: Matthew Oczkowski, the Walker campaign's chief digital officer, will be the director of product for Cambridge Analytica, the campaign data firm partly owned by the family of Robert Mercer, a top Ted Cruz donor. Molly Schweickert, the Walker campaign's digital marketing director, will be Cambridge Analytica's director of digital. The firm is working closely with Cruz's presidential campaign. 

- "Watch Ted Cruz coach his family through a campaign ad shoot," by CNN's Chris Moody and Alexander Rosen: "The videos were quietly posted earlier this summer to a YouTube page affiliated with Cruz. Campaigns often post videos like these as a way to navigate around campaign finance laws that restrict collusion between campaigns and outside groups because they are available in a public place. .... But while other campaigns have posted highly-produced clips of B-Roll, Cruz's version is raw and largely uncut. These videos, which were first reported by BuzzFeed, show a side of the candidate rarely seen in an era when the public image of presidential hopefuls is fiercely guarded and protected by
 consultants." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=f577c93103eefa790d10e4400bd1a246e066375c34b431e9c73ded9d6d96a014

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Who doesn't want a president who can take care of himself, his family and the country at the same time, like Harrison Ford did?" - Barbara Hovland, a Republican county chairwoman in Iowa and one of a number of voters who admire the terrorist-killing fictional president that Harrison Ford played in "Air Force One." (Donald Trump is also a fan.) http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=f577c93103eefa79495b8bb5c7fe3f8520d2e6d91b9ca89ce7a681ccae417a3b

NEWS FROM ACROSS THE POND: POLITICO PRO EUROPE BRIEF - POLITICO Pro, POLITICO's premium subscription service, has teamed up with POLITICO Europe to bring you POLITICO Pro Europe Brief. If you're engaged in international affairs or responsible for monitoring European policy and politics to determine their influence on the U.S., Pro's Europe Brief is for you. Written through an American lens, the Europe Brief draws on POLITICO resources in both Brussels and D.C. to track and translate key policy and regulatory developments and their impact on the U.S Bonus: Try it for free! Download a complimentary issue of Europe Brief today.

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