Subject: POLITICO's Morning Score: Recruiting push: Club for Growth poll shows Hawley leading McCaskill — O’Rourke outraised Cruz in Texas — FEC tangles over Russia action
From: "Morning Score" <[email-masked]>
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Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2017 08:03:20 -0600
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By Scott Bland | 07/14/2017 10:00 AM EDT

With Zach Montellaro, Kevin Robillard and Elena Schneider
 
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)
 
'COME ON IN, THE WATER'S WARM' - Club for Growth poll shows Hawley leading McCaskill in MIssouri, via Campaign Pro's Kevin Robillard: "The poll, conducted by Fabrizio, Lee & Associates, finds [Democratic Sen. Claire] McCaskill's favorability at 43 percent, with 46 percent seeing her unfavorably. Among independents, that slips to 39 percent favorable and 49 percent unfavorable. In a memo, the pollsters note this is 'quite a precarious position for an incumbent facing reelection.' ... When she's placed head-to-head with [Missouri Attorney General Josh] Hawley, McCaskill trails 46 percent to 42 percent, with 12 percent undecided. ... With Rep. Ann Wagner choosing not to run, national
 Republican recruiting efforts have focused almost entirely on the 37-year-old Hawley, a former law professor who only won the attorney general's office in November. The Club for Growth hasn't officially endorsed a candidate in the race." Full story.
 
- ALSO - "GOP Missouri treasurer Schmitt in [D.C] to talk Senate challenge to McCaskill," by the Washington Examiner's David M. Drucker: "Missouri Treasurer Eric Schmitt ... was scheduled to sit down with Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Sen. Cory Gardner of Colorado, chairman of the NRSC, the Senate GOP campaign arm. A meeting with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who is intimately involved in candidate recruitment for the midterm, was tentative. ... [S]ome Missouri Republicans believe Hawley is leaning no. He is 37 and has a young family." Full story.
 
RUH ROH JOE - "Senator's family business uses Mexican labor," by the Associated Press' Brian Slodysko: "Joe Donnelly, considered one of the nation's most vulnerable Democratic senators up for re-election next year, has long blasted free-trade policies for killing American jobs. He accused Carrier, an air conditioner and furnace maker, of exploiting $3-an-hour workers when it announced plans to wind down operations in Indiana and move to Mexico. ... For more than a year, Stewart Superior Corp. and its subsidiaries have been shipping thousands of pounds of raw materials to Mexico, where the company has a factory that produces ink pads and other supplies, according to customs records from
 Panjiva Inc., which tracks American imports and exports. The finished products are then transported back to a company facility in California, the records show." Full story. 
 
- Republican operatives quickly gave Donnelly a new nickname: Mexico Joe. A statement from Donnelly: "Investing in my brother's business - that I haven't had a role in for more than a decade, and which has created Hoosier jobs in LaPorte - doesn't change my record. I've worked hard every day to keep jobs in Indiana and fight for fair trade deals that level the playing field for the American worker. Hoosiers know I'm fighting to renegotiate NAFTA for American workers and to stop new trade deals that will allow other countries to flood U.S. markets."
 
Q2 FUNDRAISING ROUNDUP - Arizona: GOP Sen. Jeff Flake announced raising $1.5 million in the second quarter and finishing with $3 million on hand.
 
- Indiana: Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly announced raising $1.5 million in the second quarter, with $3.7 million cash on hand.
 
- Michigan: Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow raised $2.1 million, with $5.8 million in her campaign account.
 
- Texas: Democratic Rep. Beto O'Rourke announced raising $2.1 million in the second quarter for his run against GOP Sen. Ted Cruz. O'Rourke outraised Cruz, who raised $1.6 million, per the Texas Tribune. But Cruz has $5.7 million on hand to $1.9 million for O'Rourke.
 
- West Virginia: Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin raised $1.4 million in the second quarter and finished with over $3.5 million on hand.
 
- Wisconsin: "Illinois businessman Richard Uihlein has now donated a total of $3.5 million toward a super PAC supporting Republican Kevin Nicholson's potential campaign for Wisconsin's U.S. Senate seat," Wisconsin Public Radio reported. See more fundraising numbers from the House below the jump.
 
'THE ERA OF THE KINDER, GENTLER REPUBLICAN IS OVER' - "Stewart challenges Kaine and GOP with Virginia Senate run," by Campaign Pro's Kevin Robillard: "Prince William County Board of Supervisors Chair Corey Stewart announced Thursday he would challenge Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine in 2018 - and cast his campaign as a challenge to the rest of the Republican Party, too. Stewart launched his Senate run exactly one month after barely losing Virginia's GOP gubernatorial primary to former Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie with fighting words for Kaine and the GOP alike. Stewart massively outperformed expectations in losing to Gillespie by less than 2 points, and he painted his
 combative, Trump-inspired style as the future of the Republican Party." Full story.
 
Days until the 2017 election: 116.
 
Days until the 2018 election: 480.
 
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. 
 
HOUSE Q2 FUNDRAISING - FIRST IN SCORE - NY-22: GOP Rep. Claudia Tenney raised $300,000 in the second quarter and ended the period with $440,000 in cash on hand, per a statement from her campaign. 
 
- AZ-09: Democratic Rep. Kyrsten Sinema raised $649,000 in the second quarter and finished with over $3.2 million on hand.
 
- CO-06: Democrat Jason Crow raised over $300,000 in the second quarter for his run against GOP Rep. Mike Coffman, Colorado Politics reported, and finished with $247,000 on hand.
 
- FL-18: GOP Rep. Brian Mast raised $730,000 in the second quarter, with $1.1 million in cash on hand, per a statement from his campaign. 
 
- IL-03: Marie Newman, the Democrat challenging Rep. Dan Lipinski in a primary, announced raising $195,000 in the second quarter.
 
- MI-08: GOP Rep. Mike Bishop announced raising over $275,000 in the second quarter.
 
- MN-03: GOP Rep. Erik Paulsen raised over $571,000 in the second quarter and finished with over $986,000 in the bank.
 
- NJ-05: Democratic Rep. Josh Gottheimer raised $840,000 in the second quarter, ending the period with $1.4 million in cash on hand, per a statement from his campaign. 
 
- NH-01: Republican Eddie Edwards raised over $120,000 and had $100,000 on hand after the second quarter for his run against Democratic Rep. Carol Shea-Porter, via WMUR, while GOP state Sen. Andy Sanborn raised $100,000 in two weeks, also via WMUR.
 
- NY-19: GOP Rep. John Faso raised $337,000 in the second quarter and finished with almost $496,000 on hand. 
 
- PA-17: Republican John Chrin raised $350,000, including $300,000 from himself, in the second quarter for his run against Democratic Rep. Matt Cartwright, the Morning Call reported.
 
ROAD TO COMMISSION - "FEC fiercely debates Russian election interference," by Campaign Pro's Maggie Severns: "The FEC held an intense debate Thursday about how to handle Russia's interference in the 2016 election, but Republican commissioners concerned with jumping into the Russia 'frenzy' urged caution as the commission proceeds. The commissioners are sharply divided on how the FEC, which is tasked with overseeing illegal foreign spending in U.S. elections, should wield its power as reports pile up that Russia worked to advance President Donald Trump's candidacy in ways that may have violated election law. Democratic Commissioner Ellen Weintraub has repeatedly urged the commission to take
 broad steps to gather information and begin making changes at the commission to respond to potential foreign election interference in the future." Full story.
 
Q&A - "POLITICO Pro Q&A: CO-07 Democrat Brittany Pettersen," by Campaign Pro's Elena Schneider: Full story.  
 
DEEP IN THE HEART - "As congressional races draw big interest, Democrats still filling out statewide ticket," by Texas Tribune's Patrick Svitek: "While the congressional races are overflowing with candidates, the party remains without a number of statewide contenders - a reality that is coming into focus ahead of Republican Gov. Greg Abbott's anticipated announcement Friday that he's running for re-election. Barring any last-minute surprises, Abbott will make his second-term bid official without the presence of a serious Democratic rival. The state's Democrats are urging patience, saying they are in talks with potential Abbott challengers and other possible statewide candidates." Full
 story. 
 
PERSONNEL MOVES - Sen. Claire McCaskill has hired David Kirby to manage her reelection campaign in Missouri. Kirby previously worked for Colorado Democrat Ken Salazar's 2004 campaign and McCaskill's 2006 campaign. Since then, he has worked as an assistant attorney general in Missouri and as a lawyer in private practice. Full story.
 
- Democratic strategists Katherine Archuleta, Tony Massaro, Amy Sanchez Raaz and Dusti Gurule have teamed up in Colorado to form Dimension Strategies, LLC, "a new political affairs full-service agency."
 
CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "We will be voting next week." - Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, on the GOP health care bill currently circulating in his chamber, via POLITICO.
 
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