Subject: POLITICO's Morning Score: 2018 Senate strategizing starts in the House — Updates on North Carolina governor's race, CA-49 — More candidates step forward for upcoming gubernatorial elections
From: "Morning Score" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 18 Nov 2016 09:04:45 -0600
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By Theodoric Meyer | 11/18/2016 10:00 AM EDT

With Maggie Severns and Scott Bland

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)

IT'S 2018 ALREADY - "2018 showdown looms: House Republicans vs. Democratic senators," by POLITICO's Elana Schor and Burgess Everett: "As Democratic senators weigh when to fight and when to compromise with Donald Trump, Republicans on the other side of the Capitol are watching - with 2018 in mind. Several of the 10 Democrats up for reelection in states that Trump won are likely to face off against members of the House Republican Conference. And on Thursday, one of those potential Senate hopefuls, Montana Rep. Ryan Zinke, fired a warning shot at his possible rival, Democratic Sen. Jon Tester. 'What I'm hoping, quite frankly, is that Sen. Tester moves rapidly to the middle,' Zinke said of the
 two-term incumbent he is considering taking on. 'His votes have not been consistent with Montana.'" Full story.

- "Nevada operatives anxiously turn their eyes to 2018," by Campaign Pro's Elena Schneider: "Nevada Democrats had a big, lonely victory party in the wee hours of election night. Catherine Cortez Masto, who will be the first Latina senator, led a surge of Democratic gains up and down the ballot that contrasted sharply with the outcomes in just about every other state. Nevada Democrats retook majorities in both houses of the state legislature, reclaimed two swing House districts and passed two progressive ballot initiatives - one legalizing marijuana and another imposing new background checks on gun sales - in addition to holding retiring Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid's seat. It was a
 striking about-face from 2014, when Republicans swept through Nevada and took control of every statewide office, and a signal of the power of an engaged Latino electorate. Now, both sides are warily sizing up their next bout in 2018, which will yield an open gubernatorial race and another hard-fought Senate contest." Full story.

- THE RACE TO LEARN LESSONS FROM 2016 IS ON - Morgan says he'll consider 2018 Florida governor run: Democrat John Morgan, the Florida attorney who backed this year's successful medical marijuana ballot initiative in Florida, said Thursday he's considering a run for governor. "Since Monday, the outpouring of encouragement to run for governor has been overwhelming and unexpected. It is either extremely flattering that so many people put such faith in me, or sad that people have so little faith in the typical politicians of both parties who are expected to seek the office," Morgan said in letter and petition being circulated by a group calling itself "For the Governor". "Before I go down this
 road any further I need a lot of time to think about it." Outgoing Democratic Rep. Gwen Graham, who didn't run for reelection after redistricting turned her swing district deep red, is among those also considered likely to run for the Democratic nomination.

Days until the 2017 election: 353.

Days until the 2018 election: 718. 

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 continue to tweet about politics and speculate about Cabinet picks: @politicoscott, @ec_schneider, @politicokevin, @theodoricmeyer and @maggieseverns.

PROGRAMMING NOTE - Morning Score will be off next week, as we prepare for Thanksgiving and catch up on sleep after a loooong election. We'll return on Nov. 28, ready to start covering 2018.

DOING SOMETHING? SAY SOMETHING - Switching jobs now that the election's over? Starting a new consulting firm? Overhear some juicy post-election gossip on the National Review cruise? Get in touch, and we'll get it in Score: [email-masked] or [email-masked].

STILL NOT CALLED - New complaints filed in uncalled North Carolina governor's race: GOP "Gov. Pat McCrory's campaign announced late Thursday that 50 more election complaints have been filed - bringing the total number of counties with contested election results to 52 of the state's 100 counties," The News & Observer's Colin Campbell reports. "The latest complaints say that ballots were cast by people who were dead, were convicted felons or had already voted. ... The new allegations are in addition to 12 election complaints the campaign said would be filed Thursday about absentee ballots."

- "Those complaints - at least five of which hadn't been filed by Thursday evening - involve groups that received funding from the N.C. Democratic Party and assisted voters with filling out absentee ballots. Counties now must hold hearings on the complaints, and some counties have multiple complaints to review. The expanded number of complaints will likely further delay the process of certifying election results, which have Democrat Roy Cooper leading McCrory by about 5,000 votes. Counties can't finalize their election results until all complaints are resolved, according to a memo from the State Board of Elections." Full story.

- OVERLOOKED - Donald Trump's 3.8 percentage point margin over Hillary Clinton in hotly contested North Carolina is now identical to the margin separating Trump and Clinton in Arizona, which saw significantly less investment from the two campaigns this summer and fall. (h/t @Taniel)

- Issa leads by nearly 5,000 votes in uncalled CA-49 race: GOP Rep. Darrell Issa's lead over Democrat Doug Applegate inched up again on Thursday in the still-uncalled California race. Issa now leads Applegate by 4,953 votes, 51 percent to 49 percent.

MORE ADS - "Judicial Crisis Network already running ads ahead of Trump SCOTUS pick," by POLITICO's Burgess Everett: "The conservative Judicial Crisis Network is launching an ad buy of more than $175,000 to applaud Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley for holding the line against President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland. Grassley never allowed Garland a Senate hearing, and even drew a general election opponent, Patty Judge, who targeted him over his obstruction of the Supreme Court vacancy left by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. Now JCN, which spent more than $5 million encouraging Republicans and moderate Democrats to block Garland, is running TV and digital
 ads in Iowa and Washington, D.C., aimed at bolstering Grassley's resolve ahead of the next fight: confirming Trump's nominee." Full story. 

DEMOCRATIC DIVIDE - "Tim Ryan to challenge Pelosi for minority leader," by POLITICO's Heather Caygle and John Bresnahan: "Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan will challenge House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi for the top Democratic post, the first real test of her leadership since Democrats lost the House in 2010. ... There is significant unrest within the caucus after Democrats' poor showing on Election Day, but it's unclear if that will translate into strong support for Ryan. 'Tim Ryan has floated a run for Ohio governor in 2014, senator in 2016 and Ohio governor in 2018. Many believe this run, destined for failure, is a mere publicity stunt to lay the groundwork for a run for governor,' said a senior
 Democratic aide." Full story.

DOWN THE BALLOT - McSally says she won even though Clinton carried her district: With votes still being counted in many states, It's not yet clear how many Republicans won in House districts that Hillary Clinton carried, and how many Democrats prevailed in districts won by Donald Trump. But GOP Rep. Martha McSally's campaign has crunched the still-unofficial numbers in her Arizona district and found that McSally ran 12 points ahead of Trump in the district. She defeated Democrat Matt Heinz 57 percent to 43 percent, even as Clinton beat Trump 50 percent to 45 percent in the district. Mitt Romney won the swing district narrowly in 2012.

PRESIDENTIAL SPEED READ - "In Jared Kusher, Trump finds a kindred spirit," by POLITICO's Annie Karni: Donald Trump's son-in-law-turned-trusted-adviser, Jared "Kushner is soft-spoken, mild-mannered, even a bit shy. But in New York City real estate and media circles, former colleagues and business associates paint a picture of a son-in-law who has much in common, under the surface, with the brash and braggadocious president-elect. People who know Kushner say that like Trump, he sees himself as an outsider who, despite his Ivy League pedigree, scoffs at intellectual and cultural elites; and believes that despite a mixed business track record, he possesses a 'golden touch.'" Full story.

- "David Brock gathers donors to 'kick Donald Trump's ass,'" by POLITICO's Kenneth P. Vogel: "Hillary Clinton's attack dog David Brock is launching his own Koch-brothers-like donor network to finance attacks on President-elect Donald Trump and to rebuild the political left after Trump's stunning victory over Clinton last week. Brock on Thursday night emailed more than 200 of the biggest donors on the left - including finance titans George Soros, Tom Steyer and Donald Sussman - inviting them to a retreat in Palm Beach over inauguration weekend to assess what Democrats did wrong in 2016, figure out how to correct it and raise cash for those initiatives. 'This will be THE gathering for
 Democratic donors from across the country to hear from a broad and diverse group of leaders about the next steps for progressives under a Trump Administration,' Brock wrote to the donors in an email obtained by POLITICO." Full story.

- "Ethics rules bar Bannon from helping Breitbart," by POLITICO's Isaac Arnsdorf and Taylor Gee: "President-elect Donald Trump's chief strategist, Steve Bannon, would be prohibited from communicating with the alt-right website he used to run, Breitbart News, while serving in the White House, according to ethics rules currently in place. Bannon's appointment stoked fear among liberals and conservatives alike that he would utilize the fiery Breitbart.com - a site that regularly attacks House Speaker Paul Ryan and other Republicans, as well as liberal Democrats - as a semi-official house organ to promote Trump's policies and attack his critics. But existing White House ethics rules prohibit
 officials from dealing with their former employers for at least a year - meaning Bannon would have to scrupulously avoid any contact with Breitbart." Full story. 

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I am more amused by the state party than I am engaged." - Christopher Cole, the GOP chairman in Lassen County, Calif. Cole dismissed the leaders of the California GOP in an interview with the The Los Angeles Times as "brie and wine sippers."

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