Subject: POLITICO's Morning Score: GOP mailers tie underdog Dems to Sanders ahead of California primaries — Trump, Sanders trade rhetoric filtering down-ballot — Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski picks up primary challenger
From: "Morning Score" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 02 Jun 2016 08:03:09 -0600

By Elena Schneider | 06/02/2016 10:00 AM EDT

With Kevin Robillard, Theodoric Meyer, Scott Bland and Maggie Severns

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)

MAIL TIME - "GOP mailers aim to scramble California primaries," by Campaign Pro's Elena Schneider: "Outside groups are stuffing California voters' mailboxes with campaign literature - some with duplicitous intent. The California Republican Party and the American Action Network, a GOP nonprofit, are using mailers to boost name recognition and draw Democratic voters to lesser-known candidates in an effort to scramble the math in at least two California House races. It's a tactic both parties have used before, with very mixed results. ... AAN's mailers tie Democrat Helene Schneider to Bernie Sanders, who recently campaigned in the area. The mailers technically attack Schneider - but they do so
 in a way that highlights her liberalism, and the mailers are being sent to Democratic households." 

- Mailer sampler: "Liberal Congressional candidate Helene Schneider and Bernie Sanders. Two liberal peas in a pod." The mailer puts Schneider and Sanders together in a pea pod, with a pink heart between them. "... More gun control ... Redistribute wealth ... Regulate big banks ... Regulate businesses." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9c0a19e0ab3af32cc7d1cad07317521e0ae05b79296c40c525ba315e4e00d751

TRADE MACHINE - "Presidential trade wars scramble Senate races," by Campaign Pro's Maggie Severns and Kevin Robillard: "Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders have spent months stoking primary voters' frustrations on trade. Now, that fire is spreading down the ballot for the general election. Democrats, energized by the heated presidential debate, are already attacking Republican senators for supporting free trade ... But Trump's opposition to trade deals and demand for higher tariffs have scrambled party lines." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9c0a19e0ab3af32c4e97bdaf51a5d8906056aa2188f0fbc217250a0f83b90440

- Mine workers endorse Portman: The United Mine Workers of America PAC today endorsed Portman in Ohio, an unusual move for a union that twice in the past endorsed Portman's opponent, former Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland. The PAC's leaders commended Portman for supporting the industry, "especially in such difficult times as the coal industry is experiencing today." In a statement, Portman pointed to the decision as evidence that Strickland hasn't represented the interests of the coal industry in Ohio. "Ted Strickland likes to remind people that he's from southeast Ohio, but he has a record of turning his back on coal country," Portman said in a statement. 

TWO OF A KIND - "Former Anchorage mayor files for primary run against Sen. Lisa Murkowski," by Alaska Dispatch News' Nathaniel Herz: "Former Anchorage Mayor Dan Sullivan filed to face U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski in the Republican primary moments before the candidate deadline Wednesday. Sullivan, who faced a term limit when he left the top city office after six years last year, was a surprise candidate when he showed up at the state elections office about 10 minutes before the doors closed at 5 p.m. He finished filling out his paperwork at the office counter. If he wins, Alaska would have the odd distinction of having two Dan Sullivans serving in the U.S. Senate. The other Dan Sullivan, also a
 Republican, beat Democrat Mark Begich in 2014. Begich was also a former Anchorage mayor." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9c0a19e0ab3af32c9f4059af6e85cc5efb196058ff6fa1efc36b3565a42a97b1 

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: 5. Days until the 2016 election: 158.

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 DJs: @politicoscott, @ec_schneider, @politicokevin, @theodoricmeyer and @maggieseverns.

FAMILY TIES - "Ami Bera encouraged family to give to Democrats supporting him," by The Sacramento Bee's Christopher Cadelago: "Democratic Rep. Ami Bera said Wednesday that a complex series of campaign donations involving his parents and the families of other Democrats often were arranged by the candidates themselves. ...Speaking with The Sacramento Bee Editorial Board, Bera for the first time answered questions about the practice. Bera said he periodically asked his wife, mother and father to contribute to Democrats running in competitive contests, but that similar donations from those candidates and their relatives didn't constitute 'reimbursements.' He said in some cases the contributions
 may also have been initiated by the candidates' families or their campaign staffs. 'I don't know if the families were talking to each other, or if the campaigns may have been talking at times ... Their finance person talking to our finance person,' he said." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9c0a19e0ab3af32c498007cc5637cd96e5059b87fe640e826b62358648cc619f 

THE PHANTOM POLLBOOTH - Kennedy leads Louisiana Senate poll: State Treasurer John Kennedy has a massive lead in Louisiana's Senate race in a new poll from Southern Media and Opinion Research. He collects 32 percent of the vote in the survey, compared to 10 percent for Rep. Charles Boustany, 9 percent for Public Service Commissioner Foster Campbell, 5 percent for Rep. John Fleming and just 4 percent for retired Col. Rob Maness and attorney Caroline Fayard. But 42 percent of Democrats and 52 percent of black voters are undecided, so the numbers for the two Democrats in the contest -- Campbell and Fayard -- should grow. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9c0a19e0ab3af32c3537bb5c84634e23a5f83fadeb5838eb95955560a7215e32

... Fleming's campaign, meanwhile, is out with a memo explaining why their fundraising lead, staff experience and support from a variety of conservative groups makes him the candidate to beat. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=af014e3f753cc948085b85e176a4e0bb6ed905b179debad95b62f7629014ec93

... And in California: Two Democrats lead the pack in California's top-two Senate primary, though a quarter of voters are still undecided, according to a new NBC/Wall Street Journal/Marist poll. State Attorney General Kamala Harris got support from 37 percent of likely primary voters in the survey, while Rep. Loretta Sanchez got 19 percent. Under California's primary system, the top two finishers regardless of party advance to the general election. Republicans Tom Del Beccaro, Ron Unz and Duf Sundheim are all clustered in the single digits. Del Beccaro got the most support, at 8 percent. Read the full poll results here: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=af014e3f753cc94800e22b1c6e192995cfc29869ddcca56681abfd46ce25679a

NEW THIS MORNING - STAFFING UP - American Action Network and the Congressional Leadership Fund will announce today that Ruth Guerra will join as a deputy communications director, leading its regional communications. Guerra previously serviced as the Republican National Committee's director of Hispanic media. 

- Sarah Huckabee Sanders joins Brunner for governor: Sanders, who is serving Donald Trump's presidential campaign as a senior advisor, is also taking on a senior advisor role for businessman John Brunner's gubernatorial campaign in Missouri. Brunner is locked in a contested, multi-way GOP primary for the open seat.

- Sabrina Singh, the communications director for Katie McGinty's Senate campaign, has left. Her departure follows the appointment of a new campaign manager, former Ed Rendell aide Jordan Marks.

NODS FROM ON HIGH - President Obama endorses Rep. Donald Norcross: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=af014e3f753cc94847ada4009c61c7cc65332cef07ba5a8aa13ea360c3c95805

- Coburn endorses challenger to Rep. Markwayne Mullin: Former Okla. Sen. Tom Coburn has endorsed Jarrin Jackson, a 30-year-old West Point graduate and Afghanistan War veteran who is challenging Rep. Markwayne Mullin in Oklahoma's 2nd District, Conservative Review reports. The June 28 primary hasn't drawn a lot of attention, but Jackson has $100,000 in the bank to Mullin's roughly $500,000. The website notes Jackson's support for term limits and a constitutional convention earned Coburn's support. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=af014e3f753cc948cd5612e96cb28e6a63f51e08155b2b401d2088b1aed96757

UP ON THE AIRWAVES - Johnson prepping first Wisconsin TV ads: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=af014e3f753cc9483aad46b99f615c66e95e6df677ab3beca52a8baec543b0f6

PRESIDENTIAL SPEED READ - "Hillary Clinton to Portray Donald Trump's Foreign Policy Positions as Dangerous," by The New York Times' Amy Chozick: "Hillary Clinton plans to deliver a scorching assessment of Donald J. Trump's foreign policy prescriptions on Thursday, casting her likely Republican rival as a threat to decades of bipartisan tenets of American diplomacy and declaring him unfit for the presidency. Mrs. Clinton's campaign aides said the speech, which she will deliver in San Diego, would be the start of a persistent assault to portray a potential Trump presidency as a dangerous proposition that would weaken American alliances and embolden enemies. The argument will include specific
 criticism of comments Mr. Trump has made about rethinking the United States's support of NATO; his proposal to allow Japan, South Korea and Saudi Arabia to acquire nuclear weapons; his vow to temporarily bar Muslims from entering the United States; and his pledge to advance the use of torture and kill the families of suspected terrorists." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=af014e3f753cc948f81ef825e11c9913b11af10bcfe16fbebd2cd2ab9b279a34 

- "Trump can't seal the deal with swing-state Republican establishment," by POLITICO's Katie Glueck: "When Donald Trump comes to Cleveland this summer to claim the Republican nomination, he'll do it an eight-minute drive away from the George V. Voinovich Bridge. ... But as of now, Trump will be without the backing of George Voinovich himself, the former Ohio governor and senator -and one of the state's favorite Republican sons - who has yet to throw his support behind the presumptive GOP nominee. ... While national Republican leaders have largely gotten on board, a host of key establishment figures in Ohio and Florida - including current Ohio Gov. John Kasich, former Gov. Bob Taft, Former
 Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Florida Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Carlos Curbelo and other influential Latino leaders in Florida - are still refusing to get behind the GOP nominee." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=af014e3f753cc9486e05b4068abbd48477df6e1f7139bec6455da03666b38d33

- "Trump's personal, racially tinged attacks on federal judge alarm legal experts," by The Washington Post's Jose A. DelReal and Katie Zezima: "Donald Trump's highly personal, racially tinged attacks on a federal judge overseeing a pair of lawsuits against him have set off a wave of alarm among legal experts, who worry that the Republican presidential candidate's vendetta signals a remarkable disregard for judicial independence. That attitude, many argue, could carry constitutional implications if Trump becomes president. ...Trump's attacks on Curiel stand out for their personal nature, for the racial remarks and for the suggestion by a potential president that someone "ought to look into"
 the judge." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=af014e3f753cc9482dd1b1d8fab463a9b218c12dfb1b32ef3c6ff7704059125f 

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Although I hear the Philippines is lovely this time of year, you may be relieved to know that we are safely in the Hoosier state and quite well." - Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, after his personal AOL email was hacked "by a scammer asking for money," via The Indianapolis Star. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=af014e3f753cc948139bd573928539aff81f99712e15377ac1a0c68eafd6e498

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