Subject: POLITICO's Morning Score: Virginia Democrats chase final votes ahead of Tuesday's primary — Polis to run for governor, leaving CO-02 open — Rogers backs Brooks in Alabama
From: "Morning Score" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 12 Jun 2017 08:03:13 -0600
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By Scott Bland | 06/12/2017 10:00 AM EDT

With 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)

THE FINAL COUNTDOWN - "Virginia governor candidates sprint to primary finish," by Campaign Pro's Kevin Robillard: "The Democratic candidates to be Virginia's next governor spent the final days of their primary in very different comfort zones, highlighting two starkly different interpretations of the energy currently coursing through their party. While Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam hit the campaign trail with Gov. Terry McAuliffe and both Democratic senators for scheduled events, flexing the establishment muscle behind his campaign, former Rep. Tom Perriello dashed from stop to stop on a hyperactive, 24-hours-straight campaign tour, intercepting voters at Waffle Houses and gelato shops around
 Virginia."

- "Both campaigns are outwardly confident about winning Tuesday's primary and setting up a November matchup with Republican Ed Gillespie, the front-runner in the GOP primary. But while both campaigns have adopted highly progressive platforms and leaned heavily on criticism of President Donald Trump during the primary, Perriello is also banking on unusually high turnout from irregular Democratic voters, motivated partly by backlash to Trump. Northam is counting on his steady campaign effort - including forceful denunciation of Trump - and validation from nearly all of Virginia's top Democrats to appeal to the core party activists who usually decide these races. ... Perriello supporters hope
 to see about 500,000 people turn out for Tuesday's Democratic primary - a big increase over the 320,000 who showed up for the last competitive gubernatorial primary, in 2009. (Northam's campaign does not expect the electorate to grow significantly.) Full story.

CLIMBING THE LADDER - "Jared Polis to join crowded 2018 race for governor," by the Denver Post's Mark K. Matthews: "In an interview with The Denver Post, the fifth-term lawmaker said his platform will focus on three initiatives: getting Colorado to use 100 percent renewable energy by 2040, ensuring parents can access free, full-day preschool or kindergarten for children age 3 and older, and encouraging companies in the state to provide stock options to employees. ... One of Polis' main rivals in the Democratic primary will be fellow congressman Ed Perlmutter ... [f]ormer state Sen. Mike Johnston was one of the first Democrats to throw his hat into the ring, and he surprised many political
 observers by raising an eye-popping $625,000 in his first fundraising quarter. Also competing: Cary Kennedy, a former state treasurer, and businessman Noel Ginsburg." Full story.

- OPEN SEAT WATCH - Potential Democratic candidates for Polis' CO-02, via Roll Call's Bridget Bowman: "Two Colorado Democrats said Joe Neguse could be a potential candidate. ... One consultant also named two county commissioners, Dan Gibbs of Summit County and Elise Jones of Boulder County ... [former Rep.] Betsy Markey ... was also named as a prospect. Another Colorado Democrat said to keep an eye on state Sen. Stephen Fenberg, who founded the nonprofit New Era Colorado ... Shannon Watts is also a candidate to watch. She founded Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America." Full story.

SPECIAL ELECTION ENDORSEMENT - "Rogers backs Brooks for Senate in Alabama," by Campaign Pro's Daniel Strauss: "The endorsement comes as Brooks' campaign tries to build up credibility and name recognition outside his district and a core group of conservative supporters. Brooks is a member of the House Freedom Caucus, while Rogers is not. Most of the Alabama delegation has not weighed in on the Senate race, though Sen. Richard Shelby is strongly backing Strange, his new colleague." Full story.

- Rogers: "Mo is an unwavering proponent of strictly enforcing immigration law, reducing the size and scope of government, and of restoring Constitutional order."

Days until the 2017 election: 148.

Days until the 2018 election: 512.

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. 

POLITICO's INAUGURAL "WOMEN RULE" INVESTIGATION: Not only did women not break the glass ceiling in 2016 - they stalled at just 20 percent in Congress, and less than one-quarter of elected offices nationwide. Why does a persistent gap in women's interest in running for office continue - even as political activism among women has heated up since the election? Over the course of several months, POLITICO conducted over 50 interviews with candidates, elected officials, researchers, wavering candidates and political operatives and found that the swell of female political activism does not translate to future candidacies. To change things, recruiters must start earlier in a woman's life for her to
 consider running, school boards are the best starting place, and the sales pitch to get women to run for office must change. Read more here.

REDISTRICTING IS AROUND THE CORNER - GOP megadonor Sheldon Adelson "has begun sounding out other contributors, such as the Ricketts family, on forming a new super PAC that would focus on governors' races and state legislative races ahead of the next redistricting cycle in 2020," via CNN's Theodore Schleifer. "Adelson would be willing to commit substantial resources to the group, which is still in early talks but is envisioned as a heavyweight GOP group similar to the Senate Leadership Fund or Congressional Leadership Fund." Full story.

TRUMP ON THE TRAIL - "MacArthur fundraiser with Trump raises more than $800K," by POLITICO New Jersey's Katie Jennings: "President Donald Trump headlined a fundraiser for New Jersey Rep. Tom MacArthur on Sunday afternoon, raising more than $800,000 for the two-term Republican congressman, according to a spokesman. The fundraiser, at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, was the first personal fundraiser Trump has held for a House incumbent. About 100 people were in attendance, including New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. ... The event was hosted by MacArthur Victory, a joint fundraising committee, which includes MacArthur for Congress, the National Republican Congressional Committee, TMAC
 PAC, and the New Jersey Republican State Committee, according to the invitation." Full story.

BINGO? - "Michigan Dems hit with $500,000 fine for bingo games," by the Detroit News' Jonathan Oosting: "The Michigan Democratic Party has agreed to pay a hefty $500,000 fine after the Federal Election Commission concluded the party under-reported cash contributions at past bingo fundraisers by $4.4 million and violated campaign finance laws. The party inaccurately reported approximately 12,500 contributions from the game-of-chance fundraisers, which it had operated over nearly 14 years but shut down three years ago, according to a conciliation agreement with the federal oversight agency. The civil fine is among the largest ever levied by the FEC. Records show the agency has levied civil
 penalties of $500,000 or more 10 times since 1980." Full story.

- "Indiana voter registration group, employees charged with falsifying applications," by the Washington Post's Vanessa Williams: "Twelve employees of the Indiana Voter Registration Project, which focused on registering black voters in the run up to last year's presidential election, were charged Friday with submitting falsified voter registration applications. The voter registration group also faces criminal charges." Full story.

OL' VIRGINNY - "Clean energy advocate Perriello sells stock in Exxon," by the Associated Press' Alan Suderman: "Democrat Tom Perriello says he has sold stock in Exxon Mobil he bought three weeks before launching a run for governor. The Associated Press recently obtained records filed with the federal government, where Perriello previously worked, showing he bought between $1,000 and $15,000 worth of Exxon stock in December. The oil giant is a frequent target of environmentalists, a group Perriello has strongly courted." Full story. 

- "'Censored' TV ad with image of Trump's bloody head airs in Va. governor's race," by the Washington Post's Laura Vozzella: "Republican gubernatorial hopeful Corey Stewart won a battle this weekend with a TV station that initially refused to air an ad with an image of President Trump's bloodied head. Stewart, a supporter of the president who was chairman of his Virginia campaign for most of last year, tried to launch the ad Friday, just days ahead of Tuesday's three-way GOP primary. Titled 'Unhinged,' the 30-second spot incorporates a photograph of comedian Kathy Griffin holding a bloody mask of Trump's head - a graphic stunt that generated fierce blowback." Full story. 

- "Tyson Foods tries to scuttle TV ad playing up ties to GOP contender Gillespie," by the Washington Post's Laura Vozzella: "Tyson Foods has asked Virginia gubernatorial hopeful Corey Stewart to kill a TV ad, one that slams Republican rival Ed Gillespie for work his Washington lobbying firm did for the poultry giant as it faced criminal charges related to illegal-immigrant employees. ... 'You are certainly entitled to make immigration part of your campaign for governor; however, we respectively [sic] ask that you stop disparaging the reputation of Tyson Foods by immediately discontinuing your false and misleading ads and public statements about our company,' Paul T. Kirchner, vice president
 and associate general counsel for Tyson, wrote in a letter Friday to Stewart campaign manager Spence Rogers." Full story. 

SPECIAL ELECTION WATCH - "5th District candidates clash over voting records - or lack thereof," by The State's Avery G. Wilks: "The state elections office has no records of Parnell ever voting in South Carolina until the Sumter native and former Goldman Sachs tax adviser voted for himself in last month's 5th District Democratic primary. Elections officials say the 66-year-old political novice's voter registration appears to have been dormant since June 1972, when Parnell registered. Parnell, who has lived and worked in Asia and Europe, updated his registration on Feb. 17 of this year, a little more than two weeks before he announced his congressional run." Full story. 

WHAT'S NEXT? - "Romney stokes speculation he's weighing another political run," by POLITICO's Alex Isenstadt in Deer Valley, Utah: "... Spencer Zwick, a longtime Romney adviser and political gatekeeper, said he'd been inundated with appeals from Republican candidates asking the former GOP nominee to help them. Last week, Romney held his first fundraiser for a 2018 hopeful, an event benefiting Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake, a Republican who has been fiercely critical of the president. Over the coming days, Romney is also expected to release a robocall boosting Georgia Republican Karen Handel, who has been losing ground in a high-stakes June 20 special House election she had once been favored to
 win." Full story.

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "The current model and the current strategy of the Democratic Party is an absolute failure." - Sen. Bernie Sanders, speaking at the People's Summit event in Chicago this weekend, via The New York Times.

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