Subject: POLITICO's Morning Score, presented by Sinclair Broadcast Group: Republicans recruiting combat veteran in Colorado Senate — Democrats get candidates in VA-10, CA-25
From: "Morning Score" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 2015 09:02:39 -0600

By Elena Schneider | 12/11/2015 10:00 AM EDT

With Kevin Robillard , Theodoric Meyer and Daniel Lippman

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)

ROCKY MOUNTAIN RECRUITING -- "NRSC chasing new Colorado Senate candidate," by Campaign Pro's Elena Schneider: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7d98e4d4e9367c106d0c61072ff99d58ba3fa6fc41c5bf1c0acbc88bb6b7d9da 

-- A little bio: A Colorado native, state Rep. Jon Keyser attended the Air Force Academy, then "worked oil rigs on the Western Slope to pay for his studies at the University of Denver School of Law," the Colorado Statesman reported. In the military, he served in an elite special operations team, where he conducted "107 successful capture-kill," missions, Keyser told the Statesman. He was first elected to the state House in 2014. Keyser and his wife, Emma, have two children.

-- Money quote from the Statesman: "Following a recent visit to Washington, D.C., where Keyser attended the Republican Jewish Coalition's presidential forum luncheon last week as an invited guest on a day off from his duties, he received $3 million in commitments of soft money to back his campaign, said a source familiar with the matter." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7d98e4d4e9367c10178f758fafef0adea4eb5e504facb822f0c25baf2680bcc6

-- That could come in handy in a crowded, highly unpredictable primary also featuring conservative state Sen. Tim Neville, a favorite of the Rocky Mountain Gun Owners group, and self-funder Robert Blaha, among several other candidates.

Days until the 2016 election: 332.

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** A message from Sinclair Broadcast Group: Sinclair Broadcast Group, the largest and most diversified television broadcasting company in the country today, delivers not only TV, the primary medium for reaching potential voters, but also targetable digital (mobile, video, email, social media and native) ad solutions. Contact Alan Brittan @ 703-236-9673. Sinclair, busy - Making Political Ads Work! **

BRIDGE PUSHES KOCH REPORT IN NEW HAMPSHIRE -- American Bridge is aggressively pushing a new report on the Koch Borthers' influence in New Hampshire. They're hosting an activist party in Portsmouth, briefing progressive groups in Concord on the report and buying digital ads -- including on the home page of the Union Leader. "For decades, the Kochs and their network of dark money political front groups have been pushing the Koch agenda in New Hampshire - perhaps more than any other state in the country - which has benefitted billionaires like the Kochs at the expense of Granite Staters," the report argues. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7f71a607eda74ea5a893e803e8e23d149cc1182dc795df0a0091ff9505873a5b

DEMOCRAT GETS IN VA-10 -- Democrat LuAnn Bennett will challenge first-term GOP Rep. Barbara Comstock in Virginia's 10th District. ...Bennett and her late first husband, Rick, founded the real estate management firm The Bennett Group, giving her personal financial resources. Bennett was also married to former Rep. Jim Moran from 2004 to 2010. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7f71a607eda74ea507627b4dae1316991cdd98aad044fd50c292c5142266cab2 

ANOTHER DEMOCRAT GETS IN CA-25 -- Bryan Caforio, a local attorney, announced Thursday that he will challenge GOP Rep. Steve Knight. "Career politicians like Steve Knight are the problem with Washington, D.C.," said Caforio in a statement, adding that he had also raised $50,000 in his first week of fundraising. California's 25th District leans Republican. President Obama won the district in 2008, but Mitt Romney picked it up in 2012. Knight's fundraising was low in the last fundraising quarter, bringing in about $77,000. 

GETTING THE NOD -- "Kamala Harris wins backing from Black Caucus PAC," by POLITICO's Lauren French: "The political action committee behind the Congressional Black Caucus has endorsed Kamala Harris in her bid to be California's next senator. Harris, the attorney general of California, is the front-runner in the Senate race but is facing competition from Rep. Loretta Sanchez, a Democrat. The CBC endorsement was expected. Harris has secured support from a number of leading African-American lawmakers including Rep. Karen Bass of California and Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7f71a607eda74ea58a4c6157b68fcaa7f59e89467c427cb98e4e409ce6164f56

OUT AND ABOUT -- SPOTTED on Wednesday night at Sen. Heidi Heitkamp's house for an evening fundraiser supporting former Rep. Baron Hill who is running for Senate in Indiana: The host Sen. Heitkamp, Sens. Warner, Donnelly, Carper, Heinrich and Wyden. Sen. Carper said it best: the secret to both a long marriage and a career in the Senate is the two "C's" - communication and compromise. Pic http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7f71a607eda74ea575d5b67285ff6e9fd5b440494914998095d30615022101bd

PRESIDENTIAL SPEED READ - "Cruz emerges as Iowa's new favorite," by POLITICO's Katie Glueck: "Ted Cruz increasingly looks like the man to beat in Iowa. He's rising in the polls, building on an already extensive field organization and locking down critical conservative endorsements. Among the biggest yet came Thursday, when Bob Vander Plaats, the head of the conservative group Family Leader, came out for Cruz, citing what he sees as electability in Iowa and nationally. ...Cruz's Iowa surge is coming at the expense of Ben Carson and other Republicans seeking a share of the state's considerable evangelical vote." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7f71a607eda74ea5c56aaa9fdac27771627f9291fa1682c71abc5f980d8571f5

-- "GOP preparing for contested convention," by The Washington Post's Robert Costa and Tom Hamburger: "Republican officials and leading figures in the party's establishment are now preparing for the possibility of a brokered convention as Donald Trump continues sit atop the polls and the presidential race. More than 20 of them convened Monday for a dinner held by Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, where the prospect of Trump nearing next year's nominating convention in Cleveland with a significant number of delegates dominated the discussion, according to five people familiar with the meeting. ... [S]everal longtime power brokers argued that if the controversial
 billionaire storms through the primaries, the party's establishment must lay the groundwork for a floor fight, in which the GOP's mainstream wing could coalesce around an alternative, the people said." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7f71a607eda74ea575d55d2ddb4670cf1bc667468d2d8c4aadae399050e19d64

-- "To Democrats, Donald Trump is no longer a laughing matter," by The New York Times' Amy Chozick and Maggie Haberman: "...At a town hall here on Wednesday, Mrs. Clinton delivered her most damning, direct criticism of Mr. Trump, saying that he traffics 'in prejudice and paranoia," and that his Muslim proposal was "not only shameful, it's dangerous.' But Mrs. Clinton also strove to recognize something stirring in the electorate that Mr. Trump had clearly tapped into. 'It's O.K., it's O.K. to be afraid," she said. "When bad things happen, it does cause anxiety and fear,' she added. 'But then you pull yourself together and, especially, if you want to be a leader of our country, and you
 say:'O.K., what are we going to do about it? How are we going to be prepared?'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7f71a607eda74ea5f93be464afbe00c1f345edff85ad2672e67d61c9baafa67f 

-- "New Ad Ties Clinton's Role In Obama Syria Policy To ISIS Attacks," by Buzzfeed's Rosie Gray: "A new online ad from a Republican super PAC frames Hillary Clinton's role in President Obama Syria policy as a factor in the rise of ISIS. The ad is part of a $100,000 digital ad buy by Future45, a super PAC that launched this year that is funded by top Republican donors including hedge fund managers Paul Singer and Ken Griffin, who have both endorsed Marco Rubio." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7f71a607eda74ea5ea71167beb6872bea12f0727689ca0934f505b1e5deae01b

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Who am I comfortable having their finger on the button? Now that's a question of strength, but it's also a question of judgment. And I think that is a question that is a challenging question for both of them." -- Ted Cruz on Republican rivals Donald Trump and Ben Carson, the New York Times reported. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7f71a607eda74ea5344f81940c36ea6136485c0e84a0fcfd72de9e52ef605e34 

** A message from Sinclair Broadcast Group: The race for influence in the 2016 election cycle is gaining speed. Everyone is looking to reach as big of an audience as possible and get significant portions of that audience motivated and educated enough to vote and mobilize probable supporters. As the pace quickens, more will be trying to find an edge to influence voters their way. Sinclair Broadcast Group, the largest and most diversified television broadcasting company in the country today, can help you break through the clutter. Utilizing both TV, the primary medium for reaching potential voters and targetable digital (mobile, video, email, social media and native) ad solutions, Sinclair
 Makes Political Ads Work! The bottom line is the bottom line - winning elections. At the Sinclair Broadcast Group, we have the ad tools necessary to help you to persuade, enlighten and activate voters. Contact Alan Brittan, Sinclair's Director of Political Ads for more details @ 703-236-9673. **

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