Subject: POLITICO's Morning Score: 2018 Republicans, Democrats weigh in on Attorney General Sessions — GA-06 special election candidates hit TV — Senate challenger watch in West Virginia, North Dakota
From: "Morning Score" <[email-masked]>
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Date: Fri, 03 Mar 2017 09:03:02 -0600
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By Elena Schneider | 03/03/2017 10:00 AM EDT

With Kevin Robillard and Bianca Padro 

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)

2018 ON SESSIONS - Here's what various vulnerable Republicans and Democrats had to say about Attorney General Jeff Sessions before he announced Thursday afternoon he would recuse himself from investigations involving the 2016 elections.

- REPUBLICANS: Nevada Sen. Heller: "Attorney General Jeff Sessions should explain his interactions with the Russian ambassador and then recuse himself from the DOJ's Russia probe." ... Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake: "If there's an investigation involving DOJ, he should recuse himself." ... Virginia Rep. Barbara Comstock: "Attorney General Sessions needs to recuse himself in any Justice Department investigations related to Russian interference with the 2016 election." ... Colorado Rep. Mike Coffman: "Attorney General Jeff Sessions made a grave omission. ... I think it would be more than prudent for him to recuse himself from any Russian inquiry." ... California Rep. Mimi Walters: "Attorney General
 Sessions should recuse himself from any investigation." ... Florida Rep. Brian Mast: "If he cannot commit to ensuring this process is completed with full transparency and integrity, he should resign." ... Florida Rep. Carlos Curbelo: "The Justice Department should include these alleged meetings in their investigation and Mr. Sessions should recuse himself from Justice Department activities related to the investigation." ... Kansas Rep. Lynn Jenkins: "It would be premature to quickly call for his resignation without more information. ... If these investigations uncover sufficient evidence that there was contact between Russia and the Trump campaign regarding the elections, then I believe we
 should begin an independent, bipartisan investigation into Russian ties with the Trump campaign." ... Who didn't put out statements? Texas Rep. Will Hurd, New York Rep. John Katko, California Rep. Jeff Denham

- DEMOCRATS: Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine: "If he refuses to publicly explain his misleading answers, or if his answers are not satisfactory, I will call for his resignation." ... Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Baldwin: "He must recuse himself and appoint an independent Special Counsel to investigate communications and possible ties between the Trump campaign, Trump transition team and Trump Administration, with the Russian government and individuals with connections to the Russian government." ... Indiana Sen. Joe Donnelly: "He should recuse himself immediately and explain what he discussed with Russian Ambassador (Sergey) Kislyak in their meetings." ... Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown: "It is no longer enough
 that the Attorney General recuse himself in these investigations. He must resign his post immediately."

- Multiple Manchins: West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, who has gone out of his way to court conservative media, got this headline from Breitbart on Thursday morning: "Sen. Joe Manchin: Calls for AG Jeff Sessions to Resign 'Premature'" A few hours, he got this headline from The Hill: "Manchin: Sessions should resign if he lied about Russia contacts." Read the stories here and here. 

- Cleanup on aisle McCaskill: From USA Today's Deirdre Shesgreen: "Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., who fired off one of the harshest criticisms of Attorney General Jeff Sessions over his meetings with a Russian ambassador, faced blowback herself Thursday when the senator's own tweets contradicted her claim that she never had met the ambassador. ... She [later] said she never had been contacted by the Russian ambassador nor had a one-on-one meeting with him." More here.

- ICYMI: "Trump's White House honing its damage control," by POLITICO's Eli Stokols and Josh Dawsey: "As Donald Trump's White House was engulfed Thursday morning by the latest twist of the long-running scandal about his team's ties to Russia, the president and his advisers had an immediate worry - that the glowing coverage of his Congress speech was being stepped on. The White House was initially caught flat-footed by reports that Attorney General Jeff Sessions had two meetings with the Russian ambassador during the campaign, something he specifically denied under oath during his confirmation hearings." Full story. 

GEORGIA SPECIAL - Democrat Ossoff starting TV ads: Democrat Jon Ossoff is putting his $2 million-plus fundraising to use on the airwaves starting Friday, according to contracts filed with local TV stations. His advertising campaign starts just after Congressional Leadership Fund's Han Solo-themed attack ad against him started airing. Republican Dan Moody is also getting ready to hit TV on Monday.

MONTANA SPECIAL - GOP convention set for Monday, field narrows to six, via the Associated Press: "Real-estate investor Drew Turiano has dropped out of the running for the party nomination. That leaves state Sen. Ed Buttrey, businessman Greg Gianforte, state Rep. Carl Glimm, former state Sen. Ken Miller, contractor Dean Rehbein and former state Sen. Ed Walker. ... Gianforte says he has commitments from ... 140 of the approximately 200 Republicans who will be voting ... [Buttrey] said Thursday that he doesn't believe Gianforte has those delegates locked down." Full story.

FIRST IN SCORE - Bridge launches Facebook ads on Sessions: American Bridge 21st Century is out with the first ads from a Democratic group aiming to capitalize on Sessions' candidacy. The ads, which use Facebook's Canvas platform, are a mix of video, graphics and text. The ads, which push for a special prosecutor to investigate the controversy, are running nationally and direct users to add their name to a petition. Here's what the ads look like. 

Days until the 2017 election: 249.

Days until the 2018 election: 613.

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FIRST IN SCORE - WEB WARS - RGA goes after Democratic governors on jobs: The RGA is launching an attack on Democratic governors with digital ads, criticizing them on "on their anti-jobs, anti-business policies," per a statement from the group. The ads target governors up for reelection and serving in the DGA's leadership: Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy, Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe. The ads will "highlight news, research and insights on Democrat governors' failed records and continued efforts to push anti-business legislation," per a statement. 

- NRCC targets 11 Democrats with Twitter ads: The NRCC is attacking 11 Democrats as a part of their Obamacare "death spiral" digital campaign effort, per a statement from the group. Democrats on the list: Rep. Tom O'Halleran (AZ-01), Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (AZ-09), Rep. Cheri Bustos (IL-17), Rep. Tim Walz (MN-01), Rep. Collin Peterson (MN-07), Rep. Rick Nolan (MN-08), Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham (NM-01), Rep. Ben Ray Luj&aacute;n (NM-03), Rep. Peter DeFazio (OR-04), Rep. Kurt Schrader (OR-05) and Rep. Matt Cartwright (PA-17). 

UNDER PRESSURE - "Warren flips stance, votes against Carson," by POLITICO's Elana Schor: "Sen. Elizabeth Warren opposed the confirmation of Ben Carson as HUD secretary today, a reversal that comes after taking heat from the left for previously voting for him. After liberals lashed out at Warren for backing Carson during a Senate Banking Committee vote in January, the Massachusetts Democrat explained her decision in a lengthy Facebook post that cited his 'good, detailed promises' to her on housing policy." Full story.

TOWN HALL CHRONICLES - GOP Rep. Mike Bost of Illinois gave an ... unusual reason for not doing a town hall to a local newspaper editorial board. "The amount of time that I have at home is minimal, I need to make sure that it's productive," Bost told the Southern Illinoisian. "You know the cleansing that the Orientals used to do where you'd put one person out in front and 900 people yell at them? That's not what we need. We need to have meetings with people that are productive." Read more here. 

DEPT OF BAD DECISIONS - The Advocate calls on Richmond to apologize for Conway joke: The Advocate urged Democratic Rep. Cedric Richmond to give Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway a "real apology" for making a joke about a photo of her sitting "familiar" on a couch in the Oval Office and appearing to connect it to the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Conway tweeted that it was "sexist, unfunny," and the "so-called sisterhood" remains "alarmingly silent" on it. Richmond said in a statement that the quip was misinterpreted: "Last night was night of levity. Where I grew up saying that someone is looking or acting 'familiar' simply means that they are behaving too comfortably," The Washington Examiner
 reported. 

CHALLENGER WATCH -"Meet Patrick Morrisey: The Republican who might take down Joe Manchin in 2018." Washington Examiner's Ryan Lovelace writes West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey "looks to be in prime position to take out" Sen. Joe Manchin's seat in the Senate for West Virginia. "'Senator Manchin is in a very challenging predicament because he's trying to walk a very narrow tightrope and shift his positions from where they were previously, in order to try to move to the right and get closer to President Trump,' Morrisey" told the Examiner. "Conservative groups including the Judicial Crisis Network, Tea Party Patriots, Concerned Veterans for America and the Faith and Freedom
 Coalition have targeted Manchin's position on Gorsuch in ads, mailers and grassroots campaigns." Full story

- North Dakota Republican Rick Becker "seriously considering" Senate bid: State Sen. Rick Becker told KFGO that he's "seriously considering" a challenge to Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp. 

- "McKinney tests waters for governor," by CTPost's Neil Vigdor: "Passed over last time by Republicans for a more conservative nominee with wider name recognition - and political liabilities - former state Senate Minority Leader John McKinney is entertaining a run for governor in 2018. McKinney, 52, who is from Fairfield, has kept a relatively low profile since falling to Tom Foley in the 2014 GOP primary for the state's top office." Full story. 

ADMINISTRATION SPEED READ - "Trump courts donors with eye on 2020," by POLITICO's Shane Goldmacher, Kenneth P. Vogel and Darren Samuelsohn: "This Friday evening, Trump is set to speak in Palm Beach to a retreat for the Republican National Committee's most generous donors. On Thursday evening, Trump's Education Secretary Betsy De Vos made a personal appearance at a Washington gathering of mega-donors organized by a political operation fronted by hedge fund billionaire Paul Singer and his allies. Perhaps no single contributor embodies Trump's turnabout as much as Singer, whose announcement of support for Marco Rubio in the 2016 GOP presidential primary prompted Trump to suggest he didn't want
 Singer's support, and to ominously warn of a 'lotta controversy with Mr. Singer.' ...Yet, in the days after Trump's stunning victory, Singer received a conciliatory phone call with the president-elect, and later wrote a $5,000 check to Trump's transition team and a $1 million check to his inaugural committee, according to someone familiar with the transactions. And, after some staff-level smoothing between the two camps, Singer got invited to the White House." Full story. 

- "Kushner and Flynn Met With Russian Envoy in December, White House Says," The New York Times' Michael S. Schmidt, Matthew Rosenberg and Matt Apuzzo: " Michael T. Flynn, then Donald J. Trump's incoming national security adviser, had a previously undisclosed meeting with the Russian ambassador in December to 'establish a line of communication' between the new administration and the Russian government, the White House said on Thursday. Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump's son-in-law and now a senior adviser, also participated in the meeting at Trump Tower with Mr. Flynn and Sergey I. Kislyak, the Russian ambassador. ... [T]he disclosure of the meeting at Trump Tower adds to the emerging picture of how
 the relationship between Mr. Trump's incoming team and Moscow was evolving to include some of the president-elect's most trusted advisers." Full story. 

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Believe me, folks, these people may cast long shadows, but they are not giants. Bob Casey's no giant." - Pennsylvania Republican state Sen. Rick Saccone, discussing the Democratic incumbent in the state's U.S. Senate race, The Associated Press reported.

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