Subject: POLITICO's Morning Score: Trump becomes presumptive nominee — Cruz drops out — Sanders wins Indiana — Young easily beats Stutzman in Indiana Senate race
From: "Morning Score" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 04 May 2016 08:02:14 -0600

By Theodoric Meyer | 05/04/2016 10:00 AM EDT

With Kevin Robillard and Elena Schneider

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)

'PRESUMPTIVE NOMINEE' - "Trump: We will win," by POLITICO's Kyle Cheney: Donald Trump "crushed Ted Cruz in Indiana, ejecting the Texas senator from the race, and declaring from Trump Tower in New York City that he will lead the GOP to victory in November. ... Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, who has occasionally feuded publicly with Trump, on Tuesday night spoke with Trump by phone and tweeted out two words that seemed unfathomable 10 months ago: 'presumptive nominee.'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=bebe5349b718ce73979ef4171e1aceeed093e4e0ea4263ada24696a8473854a2

- "Ted Cruz drops out of presidential race," by POLITICO's Katie Glueck and Shane Goldmacher: "Ted Cruz dropped out of the presidential race on Tuesday night, ending one of the best-organized campaigns of 2016 after a series of stinging defeats left Donald Trump as the only candidate capable of clinching the nomination outright. Cruz had appeared eager to go all the way to Cleveland to contest the Republican convention, but a string of massive losses in the Northeast and his subsequent defeat in Indiana convinced his team there was no way forward." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=bebe5349b718ce73de38114e66fa64bced0c253f6fcf9883337e53d0019bf448

- "Republicans consider Clinton over Trump," by POLITICO's Eli Stokols: "While many conservative stalwarts are conflicted and stuck in a state of paralysis, some are considering the ultimate betrayal. Mark Salter, John McCain's former campaign speechwriter, indicated in a tweet on Tuesday that he would back Clinton over Trump. And that may be just the beginning. "Steve Schmidt, the GOP strategist who ran McCain's 2008 campaign ... predicted that 'a substantial amount of Republican officials who have worked in Republican administrations, especially on issues of defense and national security, will endorse Hillary Clinton in the campaign.'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=bebe5349b718ce73e416e6f80bdff2f8dfe89de23adebfba191ae42b42993b88

THE DEMOCRATS - "Sanders surprises Clinton in Indiana," by POLITICO's Nick Gass: "Bernie Sanders upset Hillary Clinton in Indiana's Democratic primary Tuesday night, giving his flagging campaign another reason to carry on to Philadelphia even though he has virtually no chance of overtaking Clinton for the nomination." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=bebe5349b718ce7341e6289cbc5c98f922d71f7bef45092d9f486b8e78207d93

- But even in defeat, Clinton is turning to the general election, POLITICO's Gabriel Debenedetti reports: "Over the last two weeks, Clinton has been quietly accelerating her swing state operation, organizing what amounts to a shadow general election campaign at the same time she is fending off a rival who insists he'll continue to fight until the Democratic convention in July. In recent days, the Clinton campaign has finalized a series of senior hires around the country ... She's also scheduled a series of public speeches and private meetings in states that will be crucial to her general election campaign." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=bebe5349b718ce737d108f2e464cb0e0d203260672330e77f422316a23dd3e29

HOOSIER WINNERS - "Todd Young wins Indiana GOP Senate primary," by Campaign Pro's Kevin Robillard: Rep. Todd Young sprinted to an easy victory over fellow Rep. Marlin Stutzman in Indiana's GOP Senate primary, handing another Senate primary win to the establishment groups that backed Young with millions of dollars. ... Young will face former Democratic Rep. Baron Hill, whom he defeated in a 2010 House race, in the November general election. With Republican incumbents filling out most of the 2016 Senate map, Stutzman and Young provided the purest version of the tea party-versus-establishment fights that have featured in so many recent open GOP primaries. But the establishment side showed up
 in much greater force for this round. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=bebe5349b718ce7351ec8a69e562a55bd950f5b72ed86991f2ee7cf789fb816b More on Indiana's primaries after the jump...

Days until the Nebraska and West Virginia primaries: 6. Days until the 2016 election: 188. 

Thanks for joining us. You can email tips to the whole Campaign Pro team at [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 W.B. Yeats take on 2016: @politicoscott, @ec_schneider, @politicokevin, and @theodoricmeyer.

HOUSE RESULTS - Banks wins primary to fill Stutzman's House seat: State Sen. Jim Banks won the primary to replace GOP Rep. Marlin Stutzman tonight, defeating five Republican rivals. Banks had 34 percent of the Republican vote to 31 percent for Kip Tom, a businessman and farmer, when The Associated Press called the race with 97 percent of precincts reporting. Banks' win is the second open primary victory for the House Freedom Caucus this cycle. The Club for Growth and other conservative outside groups also backed Banks. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=bebe5349b718ce730a2b5cd9d337af3e533b6dd5b0ef0751552ac8bc18ca1838

- Wealthy outsider Hollingsworth prevails in IN-09: Trey Hollingsworth, a wealthy businessman who moved to Indiana from Tennessee last year, won the five-way primary to fill GOP Rep. Todd Young's seat in Indiana's 9th District. Hollingsworth had 34 percent of the Republican primary vote to 25 percent for state Sen. Erin Houchin with all precincts reporting. Hollingsworth spent more than all of his rivals combined, nearly all of it money he loaned himself. He got additional help from Indiana Jobs Now, a super PAC funded by his father, which spent more than $500,000 on ads boosting Hollingsworth and attacking opponents. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=bebe5349b718ce731fdcaec0172f2ab136c28a6753beaffd2da588b8e4c69af2

- Full House results from Indiana: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=bebe5349b718ce7362c1c14b743afb796f79a93ec4dc807b855f7b776baf169c

GETTING OUT - Lynn drops out of FL-13 race, clearing the way for Crist: Democrat Eric Lynn is dropping out of the race for the open seat in Florida's 13th District, clearing former Gov. Charlie Crist's path to the nomination. Lynn, a former adviser to President Barack Obama, had mounted a surprisingly strong to Crist, raising more than $750,000 for his campaign. But Lynn said today that he would run for an open state House seat instead, portraying the decision as good for the party in one of its most likely 2016 pickup opportunities. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=bebe5349b718ce73f6d1ae82dc58f9fbe3707e4c7f4e55a2678a3435c3409d1b

POLLING UPDATE - PPP sees solid lead for Justice in W.V. governor's race: With less than a week to go before the primary, the billionaire Jim Justice is leading his two Democratic rivals in West Virginia's gubernatorial race, according to a new Public Policy Polling robopoll. Justice took 37 percent, according to the poll, with former U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin at 23 percent and state Senate Minority Leader Jeff Kessler at 19 percent. The poll also found Justice leading Republican Bill Cole, 41 percent to 35 percent, in a general election matchup, while Goodwin and Kessler trailed Cole head-to-head matchups. The margin of error for the Democrats was plus or minus 3.9 percentage points,
 while the general election matchup margin of error was plus or minus 2.8 percentage points. Full results: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=bebe5349b718ce7329b160f992dec01632d8f0cbe02cb6aef587ef95a5cc7890

- Cole, meanwhile, has endorsed Trump, The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=bebe5349b718ce7366bd440822913bf00a17b42de705a4d1017ebae4bfca4bf1

FIRST IN SCORE - Freedom Partners adds digital buy in Wisconsin: Freedom Partners Action Fund is adding a digital component to its ad buy attacking Democrat Russ Feingold for failing to fix problems at the Tomah, Wis., VA facility. The digital ad features Ryan Honl, the same whistleblower from the TV ad, comparing Feingold's response with GOP Sen. Ron Johnson's. "Russ Feingold could've started an investigation on what was happening in this state," Honl says in the ad. "Now he wants to get a seat back from a man who actually is doing something to clean up the second largest federal bureaucracy? He doesn't deserve it." Watch the ad: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=bebe5349b718ce73ac73ffcce8e8e665f484ba463c24ec324fb0a2a02c3e9177

PERSONNEL MOVES - Iowa GOP hires Albrecht: Looking for a sign that Iowa Republicans are taking Democrat Patty Judge's challenge to Sen. Chuck Grassley seriously? The Iowa GOP has hired Tim Albrecht, a former spokesman for Gov. Terry Branstad, to handle communications for the race. "I could not sit on the sidelines as millions of dollars from Patty Judge's D.C. friends pour into Iowa to distort Chuck Grassley's record," Albrecht said in a statement.

DAY IN COURT - Ballot-access drama continues in Colorado Senate race: Two Republican Senate candidates in Colorado, Robert Blaha and Ryan Frazier, spent their day in court on Tuesday trying to get back on the ballot ahead of today's certification deadline. Both men are appealing the Colorado Secretary of State's ruling that they didn't have enough valid signatures to make the ballot. Blaha's "legal case is the most clear cut," The Denver Post reports, but "Frazier's challenge is more complicated." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=bebe5349b718ce73f65ffa070887049b2a69625d23e44bd8613915327e1f3c17 

- Meanwhile, Denver's 7NEWS found a Colorado voter who said that "someone forged her signature" on a petition to put former state Rep. Jon Keyser on the Republican primary ballot after ProgressNow Colorado, a liberal group, held a press conference on Tuesday, alleging they had found "several invalid petition signatures." But Lynn Bartels, spokeswoman for the state's elections office, wrote in an email: "We are not reviewing Jon Keyser's signatures. We have a court order telling us to put Keyser on the ballot and the deadline to appeal that decision has passed. ... Our office cannot prosecute for fraud. That has to be done by a district attorney." 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=bebe5349b718ce73b84a76766bf3d4605a7481417f640275b154b049ada4bda5 

CASH HUSTLE - Teachout reports raising $418,000 after Sanders email: Democrat Zephyr Teachout raised $418,000 in April after Bernie Sanders sent a fundraising email for her, Teachout's campaign wrote in an email to supporters. That's not too much less than the impressive $531,000 Teachout raised during the entire first quarter. Lucy Flores, a Democratic candidate in Nevada's 4th District, had previously reported a big fundraising boost after Sanders sent an email for her - something he's done for only a few congressional candidates.

FIRST IN SCORE - Ross attacks Burr on Supreme Court in N.C.: Democrat Deborah Ross' campaign is launching a new digital ad today going after GOP Sen. Richard Burr for his refusal to vote on President Obama's Supreme Court nominee. The ad shows a clip of Burr in 2005, saying, "all judicial nominations, regardless of party, receive that up-or-down courtesy of a vote in the United States Senate. Each one of us campaigned on this issue and our constituents in the states we represent will hold us accountable." The ad then cuts to an interview after Justice Antonin Scalia's death in which Burr says, "there will be no hearing for a nominee and there will be no vote for a nominee." Watch the ad: 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=bebe5349b718ce73560461ef2ed88096f58a651c028c575015377b0c3905e8d3

CAMPAIGN TECH - America Rising launches candidate-tracking app: "Republican opposition research firm America Rising released an app on Monday that arms users attending political events with adversarial questions to ask Democratic candidates," BuzzFeed News' Megan Apper reports. "The app also allows users to record video within the app and directly upload it to a channel shared by American Rising employees, who are then able to evaluate and potentially promote the footage. Candidate's events are highlighted for the user based on their geographical proximity to the event. 'Never before have attendees of political events had at their fingertips a set of pointed, incisive questions guaranteed
 to make news,' America Rising PAC communications director Jeff Bechdel told BuzzFeed News." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=bebe5349b718ce735d7781613c7164cb113ccda21a439699a499f97d1d5ed732

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Then we don't have anything to say to each other." - Tony Fratto, a former George W. Bush administration official and avowed Trump opponent, on Twitter Tuesday night. He was responding to Ari Fleischer, another former Bush official, who tweeted, "There's a lot about Donald Trump that I don't like, but I'll vote for Trump over Hillary any day." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=bebe5349b718ce73e4300b787cfa1b4c856f831425a162deb156ea4a2d8aad1b

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