Subject: POLITICO's Morning Score: Judgment day on health care — The Republicans facing political heat over the bill — Salazar out for Colorado governor, Whaley in for Ohio — GOP state senator exploring NV-04
From: "Morning Score" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 23 Mar 2017 08:07:49 -0600
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By Elena Schneider | 03/23/2017 10:00 AM EDT

With Scott Bland and Kevin Robillard 

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)

JUDGMENT DAY - "White House moves to tweak health care bill to win over conservatives," by POLITICO's Josh Dawsey and Jennifer Haberkorn: "White House officials are moving to eliminate broad coverage requirements for health insurers in the Obamacare repeal bill in a bid to win over holdout members of the House Freedom Caucus." Full story.

- "The 7 kinds of Republicans who could lose their jobs over health care," by Campaign Pro's Kevin Robillard: "President Donald Trump and GOP leaders are asking House Republicans to take a leap of faith on health care - but not every member will be able to parachute into a safe district afterward. The GOP health care bill and it's scheduled Thursday vote invite political peril from all directions, against both House Republicans who support it and those who will oppose it." Look for: North Carolina Rep. Mark Meadows: the Trump target ... Virginia Rep. Barbara Comstock: the battleground moderate ... New York Rep. John Katko: damned if you do, damned if you don't ... New Jersey Rep. Leonard
 Lance: squeezed from both sides ... California Rep. Jeff Denham: the highest health insurance stakes ... New York Rep. John Faso: the "Buffalo Buyout" ... Florida Rep. Carlos Curbelo: the oldest constituents. Full story.

- Koch network pledges to defend Republicans who vote against GOP health bill: "The Koch brothers' network of well-funded outside groups says it will spend millions to protect Republicans who oppose the party's health care bill from political fallout. Americans for Prosperity and Freedom Partners, the Koch network's big-budget grassroots activism and advertising groups, are teaming up to create a "seven-figure" reserve fund to support lawmakers who buck President Donald Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan on the health care vote, as the threat of primaries looms over some opponents of the bill." Full story.

- "Inside Trump's last-ditch bid to avoid a health care disaster," by POLITICO's Rachael Bade, John Bresnahan and Kyle Cheney: "With one day to go until the biggest vote of his brief presidency, Trump is using all the trappings of his office to try to clinch the needed 215 votes. It's unclear whether it will be enough to save the legislation. But late Wednesday, the White House floated a major change to the bill in a bid to win over roughly three dozen House conservatives. ... Trump is trying to overawe opponents of the bill with the prestige of White House, calling them into his gold-painted Oval Office for private conversations. He is leaning on Ryan to promise them votes on their pet
 measures. And Trump is showing he's quite open to horse-trading, if that's what it takes." Full story.

FIRST IN SCORE - Nevada GOP state senator launches exploratory committee for NV-04: Republican state Sen. Scott Hammond told Campaign Pro that he's considering a challenge against Democratic Rep. Ruben Kihuen, but he wants to be deferential to former GOP Rep. Cresent Hardy. "I'm looking into it, but I'm also waiting to hear back from Cresent on this," Hammond said. "But I'm putting together a committee to see if it's a possibility." Hammond also said he's holding off on a full launch, as he doesn't want to "detract from the my ongoing work at the legislature." The seat, which extends from Las Vegas into the rural counties to the north, leans Democratic. 

- NO GO - Ken Salazar not running for Colorado governor: "This has been a difficult decision, because I love Colorado," Salazar writes in the Denver Post. "... However, my family's well-being must come first. ... I look forward to supporting a candidate for governor who has the conviction to tackle Colorado's challenges and to preserve the quality of life for ourselves and our posterity."

- AND COMING SOON - "County Democratic chairs: Dayton mayor said she's running for Ohio governor," by Campaign Pro's Daniel Strauss: "Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley has told county Democratic Party chairs in Ohio that she plans to run for governor in 2018, adding another name to the growing Democratic primary field. 'She told me that after her reelection she's going to be running for governor,' said Mahoning County Democratic Party Chairman David Betras. ... Publicly, Whaley and her supporters have said that she is still deciding whether to run and plans to make a decision soon." Full story.

Days until the 2017 election: 230.

Days until the 2018 election: 594.

Thanks for joining us. You can email tips to the Campaign Pro team at [email-masked], [email-masked], [email-masked] and [email-masked].

You can also follow us on Twitter: @politicoscott, @ec_schneider, @politicokevin and @danielstrauss4. 

CORRECTION - Yesterday's Morning Score misidentified the Koch network group preparing to run ads after the House health care vote this week thanking members who opposed the bill. It is Americans for Prosperity.

FIRST IN SCORE - NRSC starts Facebook ads on Obamacare repeal: The NRSC will start running Facebook ads pushing Obamacare repeal, targeting the ten Democratic Senators up for reelection in 2018 in states President Donald Trump won. The ads ask users to tell their senator to "REPEAL OBAMACARE" and link to a petition site where the NRSC can collect e-mail addresses and zip codes. Here's a sample of one of the ads. 

STAR POWER - "Obama team lines up behind Perriello," by POLITICO's Gabriel Debenedetti and Kevin Robillard: "Seeking to drape himself in the mantle of former President Barack Obama in his Virginia gubernatorial race, former Rep. Tom Perriello on Wednesday began circulating a letter showing support from over two dozen members of the former president's staff, according to a copy obtained by POLITICO." Full story.

SPECIAL ELECTION WATCH - The Atlanta Journal Constitution analyzed the GA-06 candidates' financial disclosure forms, finding Democrat Jon Ossoff "disclosed more than $1.7 million in assets," GOP ex-state Sen. Dan Moody "disclosed more than $26 million in assets," and GOP businessman Bob Gray "disclosed at least $2.3 million in assets." Ossoff's disclosures also include "more than $5,000 in payments from about a dozen media companies for his documentary work, including the Al-Jazeera network." 

- The NRCC on Wednesday criticized Ossoff for accepting funds from "a propaganda network based in Qatar that has been widely accused of funding terrorist organizations" and called Ossoff a hypocrite. Previously, the Ossoff campaign has responded in the AJC by saying "the company's investigations have resulted in the arrest of foreign officials stealing U.S.-taxpayer-funded aid and quack doctors who mutilate women ... Jon condemns partisan attacks that appeal to fear and stands by his work."

EARLY POLLING DATA - Marquette poll tallies Walker, Baldwin favorables, via POLITICO's Steven Shepard: "Wisconsin voters are divided on both Republican Gov. Scott Walker and Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin, according to the first Marquette Law School poll in a new election cycle with both of their offices on the ballot. The poll shows an uptick in Walker's approval rating, to 45 percent, up marginally from 42 percent in late October, just before last November's election. Slightly more voters disapprove of Walker's job performance, 48 percent, down from 51 percent before the election. It is Walker's best job-approval rating in a Marquette poll since 2014, when he was reelected."

- Baldwin's favorable rating is 40 percent and unfavorable rating is 35 percent, "roughly unchanged from most of last year's polling, including her favorable rating just before Election Day: 37 percent favorable versus 37 percent unfavorable." Full story.

- In Maryland - GOP Gov. Larry Hogan at 66 percent approval: Just 17 percent disapprove of the first-term governor in the new Washington Post/University of Maryland. The approval number is down slightly from 73 percent in September, but still among the best in the country. Hogan's numbers against a generic 2018 Democratic nominee have fallen to 41-37, down from 46-30 in September - though no Democrat has actually stepped up to run against Hogan yet. See the poll here.

- In California - A new PPIC poll out today has 51 percent of likely voters approving of Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein's job performance.

PERSONNEL MOVES - IMGE adds manpower: The Republican digital firm announced five new hires on Thursday, as it also celebrates its fourth birthday, per a statement from the group. Brett Field, who worked as a regional digital director at the NRCC in 2016, joined as a senior political account manager. Alex Boedigheimer, who served as the NRCC's director of email marketing, joined as a senior email marketing strategist. Alex Smith and Conner Downward joined as account managers, along with Alex DeGrasse as an email marketing coordinator. 

- Russ Feingold starts LegitAction, aims to abolish electoral college: Former Wisconsin Sen. Russ Feingold is launching LegitAction, "an organization committed to restoring our country's democratic legitimacy." The group will work to defend voting rights, reform campaign finance, abolish the electoral college and replace it with a national popular vote and protect the "independence and credibility" of the Supreme Court. The group is a 501(c)4. 

- Tencher joins Markey's office: Veteran Democratic campaign manager Paul Tencher (Evan Bayh 2016, Gary Peters 2014, Joe Donnelly 2012) is Sen. Ed Markey's (D-Mass.) new chief of staff.

RECRUITING STATION - EMILY's List said in a statement Wednesday that over 10,000 women contacted the pro-abortion rights group about running for office. 

ADMINISTRATION SPEED READ - "Nunes claims some Trump transition messages were intercepted," by POLITICO's Austin Wright: "House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes declared Wednesday that members of Donald Trump's transition team, possibly including Trump himself, were under inadvertent surveillance following November's presidential election. The White House and Trump's allies immediately seized on the statement as vindication of the president's much-maligned claim that former President Barack Obama wiretapped Trump Tower phones - even though Nunes himself said that's not what his new information shows. Democrats, meanwhile, cried foul. Rep. Adam Schiff of California, the top Democrat on the
 intelligence panel, cast doubt on Nunes' claims in a fiery statement and blasted the chairman for not first sharing the information with him or other committee members. Schiff also slammed Nunes for briefing the White House on Wednesday afternoon given that the Intelligence Committee is in the middle of an investigation into Russia's meddling in the 2016 election, including possible collusion with the Trump team." Full story.

 - "US Officials: Info suggests Trump associates may have coordinated with Russians," by CNN's Pamela Brown, Evan Perez and Shimon Prokupecz: "The FBI is now reviewing ... human intelligence, travel, business and phone records and accounts of in-person meetings, according to those U.S. officials. The information is raising the suspicions of FBI counterintelligence investigators that the coordination may have taken place, though officials cautioned that the information was not conclusive and that the investigation is ongoing." Full story.

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "It happens every election." - New Hampshire deputy secretary of state David Scanlan, on a tied school district vote coming down to drawing from a deck of cards this week, via NH1.

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