Subject: POLITICO's Morning Score, presented by Sinclair Broadcast Group: DCCC, DSCC outraise Republican counterparts — Congressional Leadership Fund preps ad offensive — Another political dynasty faces tough New Hampshire test
From: "Morning Score" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2016 08:03:12 -0600

By Theodoric Meyer | 08/22/2016 10:00 AM EDT

With Scott Bland, Kevin Robillard 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)

CASH DASH - DCCC dramatically outraises NRCC in July: The DCCC raised nearly three times as much as the NRCC in July, bringing in $12 million to the NRCC's $4.6 million. The NRCC still maintains a slim lead in cash on hand, with $64 million to the DCCC's $61.9 million. But the NRCC's fundraising fell steeply from June, when the committee took in $9.3 million. "Some of the media coverage coming out of the convention, and particularly during the Democratic convention, may have dampened some fundraising enthusiasm for us," NRCC executive director Rob Simms told The Wall Street Journal.

- Over $2.88 million (well more than half) of the NRCC's total $4.6 million haul came from transfers from GOP members, led by Speaker Paul Ryan and Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, along with NRCC Chairman Greg Walden and Majority Whip Steve Scalise. They, along with three other members, provided an infusion of over $2 million to the NRCC on the final weekday of July. The DCCC took in approximately $1.2 million from members in July, according to its FEC report. 

- DSCC outraises NRSC in July: The DSCC outraised the NRSC once again in July, pulling in $7.5 million to the NRSC's $4.2 million. The DSCC had $31.3 million in cash on hand, while the NRSC had $23.8 million. (First reported by our Playbook colleagues Anna Palmer and Jake Sherman.)

HELP ON THE WAY - "Super PAC launches $10 million effort to protect House GOP," by POLITICO's Rachael Bade: Congressional Leadership Fund will unveil "$10 million in spending on Monday in a dozen of the most competitive House districts - a sign of the party's efforts to rally behind Speaker Paul Ryan and avoid a down-ballot bloodbath. ... The beneficiaries include some of the most vulnerable Republicans on the ballot this fall. CLF is reserving $1.7 million for cable and digital advertisements to boost Rep. Carlos Curbelo, who represents the southern-most tip of Florida. The ads are set to air in the expensive TV market starting Oct. 23. The group's ads in several other districts are also
 slated to begin in October.

- "CLF also said it will spend nearly $1.2 million to ensure former FBI agent Brian Fitzpatrick secures his brother's seat, retiring Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.); $800,000 each to back both New York Rep. John Katko and Texas' Will Hurd; $600,000 for Wisconsin Republican Mike Gallagher, who's running to replace Rep. Reid Ribble; and smaller stashes for Reps. David Young of Iowa, Lee Zeldin and Chris Gibson of New York and Steve Knight of California." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=89dda90ac40f8fab7245474ccdce38798d58f27145d272537d6e88feefc11d10

MORE FEC TIDBITS - Murphy's father gives $1 million to Senate Majority PAC: Thomas Murphy, the Florida construction magnate whose son, Rep. Patrick Murphy, is running for Senate, wrote a $1 million check to Senate Majority PAC in July, making him the top individual donor to the Democratic super PAC last month. Murphy had previously given to a super PAC backing only his son, Floridians for a Strong Middle Class. More on Senate Majority PAC, House Majority PAC and Senate Leadership Fund donors here: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=89dda90ac40f8fabb92166ad4b810bfea2d117163ca001c566934437a358d3fb

SUNUNU BLUES - "Another political dynasty faces New Hampshire test," by Campaign Pro's Kevin Robillard in Hudson, N.H.: "New Hampshire's foremost political dynasty is under attack this year, as both Democrats and some fellow Republicans have ganged up to try to stop Chris Sununu's run for governor of the state. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=89dda90ac40f8fab538359417f055e0fa8c76012a4e972d33c94c00a9632356f

Days until the 2016 election: 78.

Days until the Arizona and Florida congressional primaries: 8.

Thank 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 a special category of obnoxious American bros: @politicoscott, @ec_schneider, @politicokevin, @theodoricmeyer and @maggieseverns.

** 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! **

FIRST IN SCORE - New Portman ad highlights work helping manufacturers: GOP Sen. Rob Portman's campaign is spending $1 million on a new TV ad focused on Portman's work to help an Ohio manufacturing company called Gregory Industries. Language in a proposed spending bill could have doomed the company, employees say in the ad, but Portman intervened. "We were dead in the water if Sen. Portman hadn't jumped in and helped us out," one man says. "Rob Portman is on the side of the guy trying to work two jobs, trying to make ends meet," says another. The ad is airing statewide. Watch the ad: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=89dda90ac40f8fab78162a2aa3afcb089a029d05d3a2b58285079867489dea92

NEW THIS MORNING - Bayh leads Young in Senate Majority PAC poll: Former Democratic Sen. Evan Bayh holds an 18-point lead, 54 percent to 36 percent, over GOP Rep. Todd Young in the race for Indiana's open Senate seat, according to a new poll conducted by Global Strategy Group for Senate Majority PAC. Bayh's lead over Young is comparable to two other Democratic internals released this summer and larger that the 7-point lead Bayh got in a Monmouth University poll released last week, which was conducted during roughly the same August time period as the Senate Majority PAC survey. The poll was conducted of 801 likely voters, and the margin of error is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. Here's
 the full polling memo: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=47bf1f9e2571b4565c56d7bf5c81b758e8c77cbdd0843b12dca2625e1d1184f5

RUNNING LIKE IT'S 1996 - "Republicans prep 'break glass' emergency plan as Trump tumbles," by POLITICO's Alex Isenstadt: "Republicans, worried about preserving their House and Senate majorities in the face of fierce headwinds, are accelerating their plans to distance themselves from Donald Trump - and may soon concede, if only implicitly, his defeat. Party strategists are mapping out blueprints for down-ballot candidates, in TV ads and on the campaign trail, to present themselves as checks on a Hillary Clinton presidency. It's an approach that would essentially admit a Trump loss. In interviews, nearly one dozen Republican operatives said they had begun poll-testing the idea - which one
 labeled a "break glass in case of emergency" strategy - to gauge how the public would react to it." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=89dda90ac40f8fab6882f39be1535bc4ed93889604e1990a284a244b445b4b8d

AIR WAR - NRCC reserves airtime in NY-22, NY-19: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=89dda90ac40f8fabe5448577167f91afea8c8901f8ca78bbc10e92c605fb7f14

- ESAFund picks its next primary target: ESAFund, the Ricketts family-backed super PAC formerly known as Ending Spending, spent more than $1 million this summer in a successful effort to oust Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-Kan.) in the primary this summer. Now the super PAC has picked its next target: Mary Thomas, who's running for an open seat in Florida's 2nd District. ESAFund is spending $126,000 to air TV ads attacking Thomas, and another $45,000 on online ads, according to its latest FEC filing. The buy brings the group into conflict again with the Club for Growth and the House Freedom Caucus, which are backing Thomas. 

COURT HOUSE - "Martins files motion to delay general election in NY-03," by POLITICO New York's Nick Niedzwiadek: "Two days after a federal judge ordered a special October primary in the 3rd Congressional District, Republican state Sen. Jack Martins filed a motion Friday seeking to postpone the general election until December. Lawyers for Martins are asking that the general election in the Long Island district be pushed back to Dec. 6, or for the court to rescind the order issued Wednesday requiring a Republican primary on Oct. 6." The court has required a re-do primary in October after Martins' primary opponent, Philip Pidot, successfully argued that he was unfairly kicked of the ballot
 ahead of the June 28 primary. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=89dda90ac40f8fabee0734781cae2fd0cf130f92e819c8882fe5f621a68c6146

- But it gets weirder. Democratic nominee Tom Suozzi, Libertarian Michael McDermott and Pidot issued a joint statement on Sunday deriding Martins for trying to push back the election until December, with McDermott accusing Martins of trying to avoid appearing on the same ballot as Donald Trump. Martins' campaign pushed back in a statement of its own, accusing Suozzi and Pidot of wanting to disenfranchise military voters, who would not have as much time to vote if the election isn't pushed back until December.

PRESIDENTIAL SPEED READ - "What if Trump won't accept defeat?" by POLITICO's Eli Stokols: "Donald Trump is on track to lose in November and to refuse to accept the legitimacy of that Election Day result. ... By hiring Breitbart's Steve Bannon, a media provocateur in his own image, and accepting the resignation of the man who was supposed to professionalize him, Trump is signaling the final 78 days of his presidential campaign will be guided by a staff that indulges his deeply held conspiracy theories and validates his hermetically sealed worldview. That includes his insistence that the only way he loses is in a 'rigged' election. According to two long-time Trump associates, the notion of a
 fixed election isn't just viewed as smart politics inside Trump Tower; it's something the GOP nominee believes." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=89dda90ac40f8fab1c1228c752ffe1b8992fd8049cf9902fb5c8ffe5dd1d35bc

- "Hope for Trump: GOP winning registration race in key states," by POLITICO's Ben Schreckinger: "For weeks, Donald Trump has watched his poll standing in battleground states plummet, from Pennsylvania, where his strength among Rust Belt families was supposed to turn a blue state competitive, to North Carolina, where Democrats had been making inroads in recent elections, to the ultimate battleground of them all: Florida. Trump's poll numbers remain dire, but he can point to at least one ray of hope for a turnaround: Republicans have continued gaining ground in recent months in voter registration in Florida, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Iowa, while the late surge in Democratic
 registrations relative to Republican registrations that occurred in battleground states the final months of the 2012 election had not materialized in numbers released in early August." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=89dda90ac40f8fab95212b52f770d6f1f2060dba3f785ebf3d75a731d6f192f0

- "Trump claims his golf courses are worth tens of millions. Until the tax bill arrives," by The Washington Post's Drew Harwell: "When Donald Trump submitted financial disclosure forms to election regulators, he bragged that his portfolio included some of the 'finest and most iconic properties in the world.' Among them was Trump National Golf Club Jupiter in Jupiter, Fla., which Trump valued at more than $50 million. That came as a surprise to officials in Palm Beach County, where the golf course is located. A few months earlier, for the third straight year, Trump's attorney had gone to court to argue that, for the sake of calculating his tax bill, the property was worth 'no more than $5
 million.' A Washington Post review of local property records revealed the same pattern across most of Trump's U.S. golf courses." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=89dda90ac40f8fabb840688bfa51dd4fead33f1d60e75f443739ee72d705f326

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "We can't have the president of the United States acting like the drug dealer in chief." - Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), who criticized President Barack Obama's administration for a $400 million payment to Iran in order to secure the release of American prisoners. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=89dda90ac40f8fab2b2e0f847d3ee73bc3638d379ca064784d3f5999da238abf

** A message from Sinclair Broadcast Group: News, opinions, and entertainment surround us 24/7, yet a fundamental truth remains, whether for competitive races or impactful ballot measures, the TV commercial reigns as the medium for reaching potential voters. TV helps strongly at the margins. Television is also the easiest way to reach undecided voters. Those passive folks who don't show up at the rallies or ask for email updates, but will be there to pull the levers on Election Day. At the Sinclair Broadcast Group, one of the largest and most diversified television broadcasting companies in the country, we combine TV with targetable digital (mobile, video, email, social media and native) ad
 solutions, to help your messaging break through the noise. Winning is what matters. At the Sinclair Broadcast Group, we have the ad tools necessary to help you to persuade, enlighten and activate. Contact Alan Brittan, Sinclair's Director of Political Ads for more details @ 703-236-9673. **

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