Subject: POLITICO's Morning Score: Latino Victory Fund pulls Virginia governor ad — Northam leads in latest poll — DCCC: Voters trust Democrats on tax reform
From: "Morning Score" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 01 Nov 2017 08:02:26 -0600
List-Id: <1376319_7175016.xt.local>

By Maggie Severns | 11/01/2017 10:00 AM EDT

With Kevin Robillard, Daniel Strauss, 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)
 
HOME STRETCH - Latino Victory Fund pulls ad in Virginia governor's race: After a deadly terrorist incident involving a truck driver on Tuesday night in New York, Latino Victory Fund is pulling a controversial ad, widely condemned by Republicans, featuring a supporter of Republican gubernatorial candidate Ed Gillespie chasing after immigrant children in a truck. "We knew our ad would ruffle feathers. We held a mirror up to the Republican Party, and they don't like what they see. We have decided to pull our ad at this time," said Crist&oacute;bal J. Alex, president of Latino Victory Fund. "Given recent events, we will be placing other powerful ads into rotation that highlight the reasons we
 need to elect progressive leaders in Virginia."
 
- The backstory: The ad was created to both criticize Gillespie's ties to President Donald Trump "and to address concerns that Democratic candidate Ralph Northam is struggling to connect with minority voters, according to people familiar with the strategy," per The Washington Post. "Public polling shows Northam easily beating Gillespie among black and Latino voters, but a recent private poll shared widely among minority advocacy groups sparked worry about the Democrat's appeal. Northam's campaign urged the groups not to release the poll's findings, according to multiple people familiar with the matter - a point not disputed by his campaign." Read the story here.
 
- Northam leads in latest poll: "A new Washington Post-Schar School poll of the Virginia governor's race finds Democrat Ralph Northam leading Republican Ed Gillespie 49 percent to 44 percent - a dramatic shift from the same poll's findings about a month ago, now more along the lines of the polling average showing a narrow Northam lead. The poll's findings come about a week before Election Day. Another 4 percent said they supported Libertarian candidate Cliff Hyra, 1 percent said neither candidate, and 3 percent said they had no opinion. The previous Post poll showed Northam ahead by 13 points, 53 percent to 40 percent, one of the largest leads in any polling of the Virginia governor's
 race." Full story here.
 
- "Record-shattering Virginia fundraising leaves candidates neck-and-neck in money race," by The Washington Post's Fenit Nirappil: "Gillespie raised $9.7 million between Oct. 1 and Oct. 26 while Northam pulled in nearly $11 million, according to records compiled Tuesday by the nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project. The late campaign flood of money is unprecedented in modern Virginia history, according to VPAP. Gillespie and Northam together raised almost twice what the gubernatorial contenders collected in the same period four years ago. ... Northam, the sitting lieutenant governor, also significantly outspent Gillespie in October: $15 million to $10.7 million. Doing so meant losing
 the 2-1 cash advantage he has had over Gillespie since the summer." Full story. 
 
- RAGA pours additional $2.2 million into AG campaign: The Republican Attorneys General Association announced it has given Virginia GOP attorney general nominee John Adams $2.2 million, bringing RAGA's total spending in the race up to $6.7 million.
 
TAX PREVIEW - DCCC releases polling that shows voters trust Democrats on tax reform: Ahead of the release of the House GOP's tax reform bill - which has now been pushed back to Thursday - the DCCC released internal polling showing voters trust Democrats over Republicans on tax reform by a 6-point margin. The polling is part of the committee's monthly tracking data. Based on the DCCC's October polling, voters trust Democrats in Congress on tax reform, 53 percent to 47 percent. This is a jump from last month, when Republicans led Democrats with trust on tax reform, 52 percent to 48 percent. The internal poll also showed Democrats leading Republicans on taxes and government spending by 3
 percentage points. 
 
Days until the 2017 election: 6. 
 
Days until the 2018 election: 370. 
 
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. 
 
TODAY! FLASH BRIEFING on Facebook, Google Hearings: POLITICO and The Information are partnering to offer an insider flash briefing for real-time analysis, key takeaways, and the impact that Congressional testimony about Russian involvement in the 2016 Election by representatives of Facebook, Google, and Twitter will have. Jessica Lessin will moderate a discussion and Q&A featuring POLITICO's Nancy Scola and The Information's Cory Weinberg on the hearings and their impact on legislation, the latest intel about possible connections to the Trump and Clinton campaigns, and insight into how these tech giants are responding to Russian propaganda arms like RT. Sign up for today's Flash Briefing
 here ($1 trial offer for The Information), and sign up for POLITICO's Morning Tech for all latest tech news in your inbox each morning here.
 
The Opioid Crisis: Crucial Next Steps - Opioid-related deaths are at a record high in the US, and President Donald Trump has called the crisis "a national emergency." Join POLITICO's live event as experts discuss the policy challenges around fighting the opioid epidemic and identify what states, regulators, payers and providers are that's working - and where more resources are needed. Nov. 2 - 8 a.m. - The W Hotel. RSVP: here.
 
NEW THIS MORNING - EMILY's List backs Betsy Dirksen Londrigan in IL-13: EMILY's List is endorsing Democrat Betsy Dirksen Londrigan, a businesswoman and former congressional aide, in her bid to take on Illinois Rep. Rodney Davis. Several other Democrats are in the primary, including Erik Jones, a former Illinois assistant attorney general who topped Londrigan in fundraising last quarter. 
 
DAILY ROLL TIDE - A new Axis Research poll on behalf of the Senate Leadership Fund finds former Alabama Supreme Court Judge Roy Moore leading former U.S. attorney Doug Jones 56 percent to 39 percent. Read the results here. 
 
- Moore is slated to host a Capitol Hill fundraiser for his campaign today. Headliners for the event include Sens. Mike Lee and Rand Paul. The campaign has suggested that other senators plan to come as well. Sen. Roger Wicker's office confirmed Tuesday that the Mississippi senator planned to be at the fundraiser.
 
MAKING MOVES - "Nevada Democrat assembles consulting team for governor," by Daniel Strauss: "Clark County Commission Vice Chair Chris Giunchigliani, a Democratic candidate for governor, is rolling out the senior staff for her campaign, drawing heavily from alums of Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo's 2014 campaign. Giunchigliani's campaign is using Mark Putnam, Kevin McKeon, and Cayce McCabe of Putnam Partners as media consultants. Pete Brodnitz, founder and president of Expedition Strategies, will be doing strategic polling and research for the campaign. And Eric Hyers, who previously served as a top aide for a number of Democratic campaigns, including Montana Gov. Steve Bullock's 2016
 reelection campaign, will be Giunchigliani's campaign manager." Full story here.
 
- New in Arizona: Brian Anderson, previously an aide for Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, has started a new research firm, The Saguaro Group. 
 
ICYMI - Hensarling will not seek reelection, by POLITICO's Zachary Warmbrodt: "Rep. Jeb Hensarling announced Tuesday he will not seek reelection in 2018, marking the end of a political career defined by the Texas Republican's long-running struggle to pare back government intervention in the economy. Hensarling, first elected to Congress in 2002, is in his last term as chairman of the powerful House Financial Services Committee, where he has spent years fighting with mixed success to roll back regulations and phase out federal programs. ... 
 
"Hensarling's departure is not likely to jeopardize GOP control of his House seat. His 5th District in Texas has leaned heavily Republican - Trump carried it with 62 percent of the vote in 2016, while Mitt Romney got 65 percent in 2012. And Democrats did not even field a candidate against Hensarling in either of the past two elections. The window to file for the March primary election opens Nov. 11." Full story here.
 
NEWS FEED - "Facebook, Twitter: Russian actors sought to undermine Trump after election," by POLITICO's Nancy Scola and Ashley Gold: "Top lawyers from Facebook and Twitter said Tuesday that Russian-linked posts and advertisements placed on the social networks after Election Day sought to sow doubt about President Donald Trump's victory. Facebook general counsel Colin Stretch told a Senate Judiciary panel that content generated by a Russian troll farm known as the Internet Research Agency after Nov. 8 centered on 'fomenting discord about the validity of his [Trump's] election.' That's a change from Russia's pre-election activity, which was largely centered on trying to denigrate Hillary
 Clinton, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said in a January report." Full story here.
 
AIR WARS - "Gillespie hits Northam on Virginia's standing in final ad," by POLITICO's Daniel Strauss: "Virginia Republican Ed Gillespie's campaign released a new ad in the governor's race [Tuesday], knocking Democratic opponent Ralph Northam on Virginia's progress during his time as lieutenant governor. The 30-second ad, 'Let's Make Life Better for All Virginians,' comes about a week before Gillespie faces Northam in the gubernatorial election. 'Virginia is 39th out of 50 states in economic growth and 44th in wage growth - Virginia. For the first time ever more people are moving out of our Commonwealth than into it, but Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam thinks we're doing great,' Gillespie says while
 speaking directly into the camera." Full story here.
 
CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I would say there is a lot of Red Bull and Monster being drank in there right now," Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.) told POLITICO about the conference rooms of House Ways and Means Committee members and staff trying to hammer out details on a tax bill.
 
To view online:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=01bd2a277b722b4601da6a24623a209acb06c5d821cdc20fa863179eee17d70dc515ed6ce69291612dab0bfadb94f492
 To change your alert settings, please go to http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=01bd2a277b722b46d37fbc006789ed889c90cf6180ad4f1ade49cf88e8cf06387423e69df049f392f371ad537df66acd or http://click.politicoemail.com/profile_center.aspx?qs=c1c81b2ef644fde1dd3c1f6178ef6a8ea3ee660992025bd4a10360f228dd01d32529d0bc8a78f765e1a2164e9536198eec78c95caa608b77
This email was sent to [email-masked] by: POLITICO, LLC 1000 Wilson Blvd. Arlington, VA, 22209, USA

To unsubscribe,https://www.politico.com/_unsubscribe?e=0000015f-77e1-d759-a7df-f7e5e67b0000&u=0000014e-f0fe-dd93-ad7f-f8fffbc40000&s=de6a95bf8a99feddbca623f00248119fc0ad02d52a05708792dbd842bc8b424f91fae381a804db8f42953ca3eb2af739b3d04949b888f7ae3c0c6c43efd0472a