Subject: POLITICO's Morning Score: Uncertainty brewing in North Carolina primaries — Cruz looking to get involved down-ballot — Florida candidates largely unmoved by Rubio rumors
From: "Morning Score" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 31 May 2016 08:03:19 -0600

By Elena Schneider | 05/31/2016 10:00 AM EDT

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)

ANYTHING COULD HAPPEN - "Low-turnout North Carolina primaries spark heavy incumbent spending," by Campaign Pro's Elena Schneider: "North Carolina's unusual June House primaries have challengers hoping they can ride low turnout and new district lines to some surprising results next week. The state's court-ordered redistricting this winter completely scrambled the congressional map, tossing multiterm incumbents into new districts just months before the rescheduled primary. The new map put two GOP members, Renee Ellmers and George Holding, in the same seat, while leaving another wide open. A half-dozen incumbents lost nearly half or more of their old constituents. And while more than 35
 percent of registered voters showed up for the regular March primary, which went ahead for other offices as scheduled, operatives say they expect turnout of around 4 to 6 percent on June 7."

- "One last twist has layered an extra dose of uncertainty on the primaries: North Carolina has ditched its usual runoff rules for House races this year, meaning candidates can win with less than 40 percent of the primary vote." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=869e16ad2720e03ac528fe66f71b91d714f3342328d10a4f36881cce1ce3791c

TED TALK - "Cruz looks to ease bad blood with GOP establishment," by POLITICO's Katie Glueck and Burgess Everett: "Ted Cruz's associates insist he's returning to the Senate as the same uncompromising, hell-bent conservative he's always been. But one thing is different, and it's glaring: The senator who made enemies with fellow Republican senators and bragged about it to voters now wants to play nice - or at least his version of nice - with his colleagues. And the first step to improving his rancorous relationships, the Texas senator's allies say, will be to help them keep their Senate seats. The freshman senator wants to return to the campaign trail this fall as a conservative surrogate for
 Republicans aiming to turn out the GOP base, they say. ... Cruz's political team is still determining how much Cruz will get involved in down-ballot elections, and where he would go to campaign. But ... he wants to be engaged this fall on behalf of his GOP colleagues, and hopefully get some them to reciprocate the goodwill." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=869e16ad2720e03ae003779492493fde6bbd747b7d5f87f895ae58fcfb07e0be

FUNNIER THAN YOU THINK - "On the (running) trail with Tom Cotton," by POLITICO's Burgess Everett: "Until he was 25, Tom Cotton never considered himself a runner. Then he found out how fast President George W. Bush could run a 5K. 'It was a lot faster than I could do it,' Cotton recalled during a brisk run across the National Mall last week that left a POLITICO reporter huffing and puffing to keep up. The Arkansas senator is certainly a man in a hurry. At 39 he's the youngest senator, elected in 2014 after a single term in the House. If Donald Trump loses in November, the veteran of two wars and Harvard Law grad is sure to be the focus of 2020 presidential chatter."

- Key quote ... "'You guys are like Lloyd from "Dumb and Dumber": 'So you're telling me there's a chance?'' Cotton jokes, likening the media and its incessant questions about a possible White House bid to Jim Carrey's low-IQ movie character." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=869e16ad2720e03a2238bc7de8c95610a082d244201854a22d90e176789b2d47 

Days until the California, Iowa, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico and South Dakota primaries, North Dakota's Democratic presidential primary and North Carolina's House primary: 7. Days until the 2016 election: 160.

Thanks for joining us. You can 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 sick gymnasts: @politicoscott, @ec_schneider, @politicokevin, @theodoricmeyer and @maggieseverns.

ON TAP TONIGHT: NOTHING - This is the first Tuesday in seven weeks that doesn't feature a federal primary. Don't worry, campaign junkies: There's a special election in Richland County, S.C. you can follow if you want. Or, alternatively, here are tonight's movie listings: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=26a918c0f87d2f1967781543ac5fa7cef8baf6c9bff028fa9e837aec4f326e6b

WHISPER CAMPAIGN - "Florida Senate candidates unmoved by Rubio rumors," by Campaign Pro's Kevin Robillard: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=26a918c0f87d2f19af919aaf6da6a7794d70c76d89b483766a7d204318cc7c1f 

TOMAH TIME: Wisconsin GOP Sen. Ron Johnson is hosting a second field hearing in the past 14 months on the over-prescription crisis at the VA hospital in Tomah, Wis., a contentious topic in his race against former Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold. Johnson's Homeland Security Committee will today hear from two veterans affairs officials and see the release of a Republican report on the three deaths linked to the problem. In the run-up to hearing, Feingold's campaign was hyping an Associated Press story undermining claims in a Freedom Partners ad attacking Feingold for allegedly not doing enough to stop the crisis when he was in office. The union official who wrote a memo key to the ad said it
 was "a total lie" that Feingold saw the memo and that Johnson's staff knew it. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=26a918c0f87d2f193fca56f98077b571d8dbc319dfa279f7e41d8b3cdb2cacf1 

- Meanwhile, Freedom Partners is out with a new timeline showing "how Russ Feingold failed to act even as repeated warnings were sounded, endangering the lives of countless veterans in search of treatment." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=26a918c0f87d2f192db0a3141e0966caeafa46f0a992ba6c793fca7e216ec166

NEW THIS MORNING - The League of Conservation Voters Action Fund's federal GiveGreen program raises $3 million: The pro-environmental group has raised or contributed $3 million for federal and state-level candidates, according to a statement from the group. So far, it's given the most to Democratic Senate candidates, Russ Feingold of Wisconsin and Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada. During the 2014 cycle, GiveGreen put in $5.8 million to pro-environment candidates. "We are well on our way to helping elect more environmental champions at the both the state and federal levels. It's clear that there is tremendous support for these candidates, and we look forward to raising even more money for
 them in the months to come," said President of LCV Action Fund, Gene Karpinski, in a statement. 

COURT CASE - Keyser signatures draw lawsuit in Colorado: Three Colorado voters are suing the state's chief elections officer, Secretary of State Wayne Williams, for counting 60 allegedly fraudulent signatures that allowed former state Rep. Jon Keyser to make the Republican Senate primary ballot. Court documents include the list of the 60 allegedly fraudulent signatures. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=26a918c0f87d2f1956c989dd77a2c8c4e314819f09d681ac06e7194fcad1b07c

- From the Keyser camp ... "It's no shock that liberals are deploying the Democratic super lawyer who represents all their pet liberal causes in an attempt to save Michael Bennet from losing to Jon Keyser in November. As we've stated previously, we are confident that if it becomes necessary, we'll be able to add hundreds of additional valid signatures to our petitions that were incorrectly excluded," spokesman Matt Connelly said in an emailed statement. 

UP ON THE AIRWAVES - McCain goes up with second ad in Arizona: GOP Sen. John McCain is debuting his second TV ad tomorrow, a positive spot highlighting McCain's efforts on behalf of Luke Air Force Base. "Senator John McCain has been a powerful advocate for the base, taking a bipartisan approach when securing the fighter pilot training program," Goodyear Mayor Georgia Lord says in the ad. Unlike McCain's first spot, the new ad never mentions his presumed Democratic opponent, Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick. But it hints that neither Kirkpatrick nor McCain's leading primary opponent, former state Sen. Kelli Ward, have the seniority to advocate for the base. The ad is airing in the Phoenix market. Watch
 the ad: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=4fd63c55b18b6a8c9d023980ce1c5d61ddc921824602f6f2091b983eeeffdf58

PRESIDENTIAL SPEED READ - "Can Libertarian nominees Gary Johnson and Bill Weld siphon votes from Trump?" by POLITICO's Shane Goldmacher in Orlando, Fla.: "...The pair form a political team of two former Republican governors that Johnson declared to be the most formidable third-party ticket in the modern era, one that he promised would thrust Libertarians from the fringe of American politics to 'major party status' in a period of widespread mistrust of both the Republican and Democratic parties. ... Their goal, in particular, is to loosen the wallets of the many disaffected and libertarian-leaning Republicans turned off by Trump's bombastic rhetoric and shifting policy stands by offering
 them an alternative of two former Republican governors. Ed Crane, the co-founder and former president of the libertarian-leaning Cato Institute who ran a seven-figure super PAC for Rand Paul, told POLITICO he planned to revive his Purple PAC group on behalf of Johnson, now that he's officially the Libertarian nominee." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=26a918c0f87d2f19cd37242c4f9df972e0c427afa05e45e3ee6359acd004565a 

- "Campaign Chairman: Clinton Knows Email Setup Was A 'Mistake,'" by Buzzfeed's Ruby Cramer: "In a memo to top supporters, Hillary Clinton's top official sought to clarify the campaign's response to a new report from the State Department inspector general and move past a controversy that has dogged the candidate now for 15 months. The 600-word letter from John Podesta, Clinton's chairman and longtime adviser, addresses the IG report's various findings, but comes back to a single point again and again: that Clinton knows the use of a personal email server was a 'mistake.' 'And she has taken responsibility for that mistake,' Podesta wrote to several hundred of the campaign's most active
 supporters and financial backers." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=26a918c0f87d2f190a1f30eb165e3f31a210f97c8663399a20145e761001738b 

- "Donald Trump Soured on a Deal, and Hong Kong Partners Became Litigants," by The New York Times' Farah Stockman and Keith Bradsher: "Donald J. Trump, who has made reversing America's trade imbalance a pillar of his campaign, often portrays himself as uniquely capable of wringing concessions out of China through hard-nosed business tactics he has honed over the years. ... In the end, Mr. Trump's alliance and eventual rivalry with some of Hong Kong's richest men proved to be a tale of Mr. Trump at the extremes. It showcased his unflagging confidence in his ability to turn a bad financial situation around. But it also underscored his willingness to destroy a fruitful relationship with
 aggressive litigation." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=1babefc46dd7e4f3c38658145645eeb72942adc3259e26c0a49dda8c89abae73 

- "Amish for Trump," by POLITICO's Katie Glueck: "The Amish don't read Donald Trump's tweets, they can't watch his television appearances and voting is practically against their religion. But that's not stopping a group of Trump allies with ties to Ben Carson and Newt Gingrich from mounting a campaign to turn them out anyway. Amish PAC was started by an alum of a pro-Carson super PAC; an ex-Amish donor to that super PAC; and an employee of Gingrich Productions. The group is planning to mount an old-fashioned, billboards-and-newspaper ads effort this summer, designed to encourage Amish people in Pennsylvania and Ohio to turn out for Trump in November." 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=1babefc46dd7e4f3b9e24037a68825f54598ca802b44c29c9f7bf4f976080f7e 

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "It's coming down to the wire! Excited to see how this one ends," Bernie Sanders tweeted about the end of the Golden State Warriors game, not about his Democratic presidential campaign. (Right?) http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=1babefc46dd7e4f34be673d27b5904e488f609ad67e5bc8241524c2401f6eef5 

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