Subject: POLITICO's Morning Score: FEC highlights from third quarter totals — Former Gov. Phil Bredesen eyes Tennessee Senate race — Trump expresses wariness of Bannon’s war on GOP establishment
From: "Morning Score" <[email-masked]>
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Date: Tue, 17 Oct 2017 08:03:13 -0600
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By Elena Schneider | 10/17/2017 10:00 AM EDT

With Kevin Robillard, Zach Montellaro and Daniel Strauss
 
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)
 
FEC NUGGETS - Highlights from third quarter: Campaign Pro is still crunching the numbers on Q3, but here are some totals that caught our eye for obvious reasons. Don't worry, though, there are a lot more fundraising stories to come. 
 
- CA-50: GOP Rep. Duncan Hunter didn't crack $100,000 - bringing in $91,000 - closing the period with just over $500,000 in cash on hand. He spent more than $130,000 on legal fees and services. Meanwhile, two of his Democratic challengers outraised him: Josh Butner raised $175,000 and Ammar Campa-Najjar raised $170,000. 
 
- NJ-11: Republican Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen raised just under $160,000, after back-to-back quarters of half-a-million-dollar hauls each. It's a steep dropoff, but he still has nearly $1 million in the bank. Democrat Mikie Sherrill topped him with nearly $500,000 in the third quarter, closing with nearly $500,000 in cash on hand. 
 
- NE-02: Former Democratic Rep. Brad Ashford, who really doesn't like raising money, brought in just under $130,000. Back in July 2015, Ashford hired new staff to reboot his fundraising after raising only $155,000 during that quarter. GOP Rep. Don Bacon, meanwhile, raised $250,000. 
 
- TX-07: Two of GOP Rep. John Culberson's challengers outraised him and have more money stashed away in the bank. Culberson brought in just under $180,000 with $390,000 in cash. Meanwhile, Alex Triantaphyllis raised $220,000 with nearly $540,000 in cash on hand, and Lizzie Pannill Fletcher raised $190,000, finishing with $400,000 in the bank.
 
- MN-08: Republican Pete Stauber beat Democratic Rep. Rick Nolan this quarter. Stauber raised just under $140,000, while Nolan brought in $120,000. But Nolan maintains a wide lead in cash on hand, with $450,000 in the bank to Stauber's $120,000. 
 
2018 WATCH - "Democrat Bredesen confirms interest in Tennessee Senate race," via The Associated Press: "Former Gov. Phil Bredesen, the last Democrat to win a statewide race in Tennessee, is considering a bid to succeed retiring Republican Bob Corker in the U.S. Senate. In a statement Monday to The Associated Press, Bredesen said he is mulling an entry into the race after several people urged him to reconsider his initial statements that he had no interest in running." Full story. 
 
- AND PRIMARY WATCH - "Pro-Trump group endorses in key Senate primaries," by McClatchy's Katie Glueck: "A prominent pro-Donald Trump super PAC with ties to ex-White House chief strategist Steve Bannon is rolling out its official endorsements in the Wisconsin and Arizona GOP Senate primaries. Great America PAC will announce that in Wisconsin, it is supporting Kevin Nicholson, a Marine veteran running in a hotly contested primary to challenge Sen. Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat running for re-election in a state President Donald Trump won." Full story. 
 
- "Trump expresses wariness of Bannon's war on GOP establishment," via POLITICO's Matthew Nussbaum and Cristiano Lima. Full story. 
 
FIRST IN SCORE - HMP releases memo on Ryan: House Majority PAC is out with a memo on House Speaker Paul Ryan, detailing recent public polling that shows Ryan's rising unfavorable numbers and its recent digital ad effort against him. The memo points to polling from Patriot Majority USA that found that Ryan in nine competitive House districts had an "average approval rating of 24 percent and a disapproval rating of 64 percent - a net negative of 40 percent." The memo continues, adding that "GOP House incumbents and candidates alike will pay the price at the polls next November."
 
FIRST IN SCORE - American Bridge drops digital ad opposing judicial appointment: American Bridge is out with a national digital buy that opposes Trump's judicial nominee Gregory Katsas. "It is up to us to make sure Donald Trump does not get to pack the courts against women's rights without a fight," the ad says. The ads, airing on Facebook and Twitter, will coincide with today's Senate Judiciary hearing. Watch the ad here. 
 
NEW THIS MORNING - AAN launches new digital buy on tax reform: American Action Network is out with a $600,000 digital buy "to further momentum on the tax reform plan released by the White House and congressional leaders," per a memo from the group. The ads will air in 27 districts, particularly in New York, New Jersey and California. Watch the ad here. Read the full list of targeted districts here. 
 
- Job Creators Network out with TV ads on tax cuts: Job Creators Network released a TV ad that will run this week on cable and dish TV networks in Washington, D.C., Montana, North Dakota and West Virginia. Watch the ad here. 
 
Days until the 2017 election: 21. 
 
Days until the 2018 election: 385.
 
Thanks for joining us! You can email tips to the Campaign Pro team at [email-masked], [email-masked], [email-masked], [email-masked] and [email-masked]
 
You can also follow us on Twitter: @politicoscott, @ec_schneider, @politicokevin, @danielstrauss4 and @maggieseverns. 
 
FIRST IN SCORE - WAY DOWN BALLOT - RSLC releases its watch list: The Republican State Leadership Committee released its list of endorsed candidates on Tuesday, highlighting six state legislators, all of whom won special elections in 2017, and 11 Republican candidates in down-ballot races. Read the full list here. 
 
POLLING DATA - Hawley leads McCaskill in Republican IVR poll: A new poll from Remington Research Group has Republican Attorney General Josh Hawley with a slender lead over Democrat Claire McCaskill, 48 percent to 45 percent, among likely voters. The poll has McCaskill winning support from 19 percent of Republicans, but losing independents 48 percent to 40 percent. The poll also has 48 percent job approval for Trump in the state, with 47 percent disapproval. Full results here. 
 
FROM THE COURTROOM - "Judge's ruling deals blow to Menendez," via POLITICO New Jersey's Matt Friedman: "Five days after unexpectedly dangling a legal out for Sen. Bob Menendez by questioning a theory that is key to the prosecution's federal bribery case against the Democratic senator and his co-defendant, Judge William Walls withdrew it on Monday." Full story.
 
MORE Q3 FUNDRAISING - Alabama: Former U.S. Attorney Doug Jones raised $1.3 million in the third quarter of 2017 and has $1 million cash on hand, a Democrat with knowledge of the Jones' fundraising numbers confirmed today, Campaign Pro reported. 
 
-,Connecticut: "Sen. Chris Murphy's campaign said the senator has raised $1.3 million in the last quarter and has more than $6 million in his war chest," The CT Mirror reported. 
 
- Nevada: Sen. Dean Heller raised $1.1 million during the third quarter, his campaign said, giving him $4.2 million cash on hand, Campaign Pro reported. 
 
- More Nevada: Democratic Rep. Jacky Rosen raised nearly $1.2 million in the third quarter, her U.S. Senate campaign said Monday, and now has slightly more than that on hand, Campaign Pro reported. 
 
- Ohio: Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel's campaign raised $1 million in the third quarter and has just over $4.1 million on hand, Campaign Pro reported. 
 
- CA-24: Republican Justin Fareed raised $210,000 with just under $260,000 in cash on hand, per a statement from his campaign. 
 
- CA-25: Democrat Bryan Caforio announced he raised $240,000 in the third quarter. 
 
- CA-39: Democrat Andy Thorburn raised $210,000 in the third quarter, in addition to giving himself a $2 million personal loan, according to his FEC filing. Thorburn has just under $2 million in cash on hand. 
 
- CA-48: Democrat Hans Keirstead announced he raised $330,000 in the third quarter. 
 
- CA-50: Democrat Josh Butner raised $175,000 in the third quarter with $230,000 in cash on hand, according to a statement from his campaign. 
 
- CO-06: Democrat Jason Crow raised $220,000 in the third quarter, finishing the period with $390,000 in cash on hand, per a statement from his campaign. 
 
- FL-07: Republican Scott Sturgill announced he raised $200,000 in the third quarter, including a $100,000 personal loan, per his FEC filing. He finished with nearly $180,000 in cash on hand. 
 
- FL-18: Democrat Pam Keith announced she raised $150,000 in the third quarter, per a statement from her campaign.
 
- IL-13: Democrat Betsy Dirksen Londrigan raised $180,000 in the third quarter, per a statement from her campaign. 
 
- IL-14: Democrat Lauren Underwood raised $75,000 with $63,000 in cash on hand, per a statement from her campaign. 
 
- IN-09: Democrat Liz Watson raised $200,000 in the third quarter, according to a statement from her campaign. 
 
- More KS-03: Republican Rep. Kevin Yoder raised $430,000 in the third quarter, closing the period with $1.4 million in cash on hand, per a statement from his campaign. 
 
- KS-03: Democrat Andrea Ramsey brought in nearly $240,000 in the third quarter, per a statement from her campaign. 
 
- MO-02: Democrat Cort VanOstran announced that he raised $225,000 in the third quarter. 
 
- NV-03: Democrat Susie Lee raised $310,000 with $300,000 in cash on hand, per an FEC filing. 
 
- TX-21: Democrat Joseph Kopser raised $210,000 in the third quarter, finishing with nearly $220,000 in cash on hand, per a statement from his campaign. 
 
- TX-23: Democrat Jay Hulings raised $200,000 since launching his campaign, per a statement from his campaign. 
 
- WA-08: Republican Dino Rossi raised nearly $580,000 since launching his campaign with just under $570,000 in cash on hand, per his FEC filing. 
 
AN EARLY CHRISTMAS - "Bentivolio eyes return to Congress," by The Detroit News' Jonathan Oosting: "Former U.S. Rep. Kerry Bentivolio is forming an exploratory committee to run for the congressional seat he lost in 2014. ... 'We need people in Congress who aren't owned by special interests and who have the courage to rock the boat on behalf of the people,' Bentivolio, 66, said in a statement. 'We need someone who is a principled conservative and has the record to prove it.'" Full story.
 
RULING NOTHING OUT - Billionaire Democratic donor Tom Steyer didn't rule out a 2020 presidential run, a 2018 California gubernatorial run or challenging Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) in an interview with E&E News.
 
OUTSIDE GROUPS - Pro-de Le&oacute;n super PAC launches: "A new super PAC will help California Democratic Senate leader Kevin de Le&oacute;n in his campaign against Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein. The PAC, called A Progressive California, hopes to bring in donations big and small from progressives. The money raised will help pay for ads and other expenditures supporting de Le&oacute;n in California, one of the most expensive states in the country to run TV ads. The super PAC is being operated by political strategists Dave Jacobson and Mac Zilber." Full story.
 
- Pro-Feinstein super PAC forms: The Sacramento Bee reported that SCN Strategies, a Democratic firm that also represents Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and Sen. Kamala Harris, will lead a pro-Feinstein super PAC called Fight for California. 
 
- "Pro-Trump Super PAC Paying Executives a Fortune for Long Shot Challenges to Maxine Waters & Debbie Wasserman Schultz," by The Daily Beast's Lachlan Markay: "Rebuilding America Now has spent just over a million dollars since December, a relatively small sum next to the $22 million it put behind President Donald Trump's 2016 candidacy. But little if any of the funds appear to be going toward direct political activity. Nearly nine of every 10 dollars of the group's reported spending has gone either to two top executives or to sky-high travel costs and expensive meals." Full story.
 
RAGA'ING ON HIM - Arkansas AG and RAGA chair Leslie Rutledge calls Richard Cordray a "poster child for bureaucrats behaving badly" in Daily Caller op-ed: "He has irreversibly tainted what was designed to be a fiercely independent regulatory agency, exempt from Congressional budget influences and civil service pay scales. This independence was supposed to be a strength. Instead, it allowed Mr. Cordray to set his own set of rules, accountable to no one. ... Mr. Cordray's mission is to implement overregulations instead of addressing actual problems. His focus has been putting small dollar lenders out of business, rather than looking at the Wells-Fargo loan-creation scandal. Similarly, Mr.
 Cordray has done little in the wake of the Equifax data breach, which has impacted at least 145 million Americans." It's part of a broader Republican press against Cordray this year, as he considers a possible gubernatorial run in Ohio. Full story.
 
TECH TOOLS - NGP VAN, Hustle announce partnership: NGP VAN, the flagship Democratic technology vendor, and Hustle, a messaging platform, launched a "new integration of Hustle's peer-to-peer messaging platform and NGP VAN's My List tool," per a statement. Users can now use both Hustle and NGP VAN's platforms together. 
 
WEB WARS - Priorities USA launches digital ads hitting Trump over subsidies: Priorities USA is paying for digital ads targeting Obama/Trump voters in Arizona, Florida, Michigan, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The ads, now running on Facebook, promote news stories highlighting premium hikes and instability following Trump's decision to end cost-sharing subsidies. See the ads here. 
 
CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I see now that I was part of something important that drew me along in its wake, even when I was diverted." - Arizona Sen. John McCain, who "joked about the path his own life has taken in a country that allowed a man who finished at the bottom of his class to become his party's presidential nominee," POLITICO reported. 
 
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