Subject: POLITICO's Morning Score: Chaos after Pa. congressional map thrown out — Pro-House GOP super PAC will spend $1.5M in PA-18 special — McSally reserves first TV ads
From: "Morning Score" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 23 Jan 2018 09:04:15 -0600
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By Maggie Severns | 01/23/2018 10:00 AM EDT

With Zach Montellaro, Elena Schneider 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)
 
ALL ABOUT PENNSYLVANIA - "Democrats poised to gain seats after court throws out Pennsylvania congressional map," by Campaign Pro's Elena Schneider: "The Pennsylvania Supreme Court tossed out the state's congressional map on Monday, throwing members and candidates into chaos and potentially boosting Democrats' chances to win the House majority this fall. The state Supreme Court ruled that the House map 'clearly, plainly and palpably violates' the state constitution and must be redrawn in the next three weeks after Democrats sued to allege Republicans unreasonably gerrymandered the districts to give the GOP a partisan advantage."
 
- If the legislature is going to redraw the lines, lawmakers have to move fast: "The court ruled a new map must be submitted by the GOP-controlled legislature to Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf by Feb. 9, and that Wolf must sign it by Feb. 15. ... If the legislature and Wolf can't agree on a map by the middle of next month, the ruling proscribes that it be drawn by the courts, with the parties to the lawsuit invited to submit proposals before then."
 
- Democrats think a new map strengthens the party's chances to gain seats this year: "'This is a game-changer in Pennsylvania politics,' said Mike Mikus, a Democratic consultant. 'I could see us grabbing a seat in the western part of the state, along with two or three in the Philadelphia suburbs, all of which would be ripe for us under new maps and in this environment.'"
 
- Republicans looking to cut their losses could target two districts: "Operatives ... noted that they expect retiring Rep. Charlie Dent's district could turn a shade bluer, if the map draws the Lehigh Valley, which was split in two in 2011, into one district. ... [Rep. Pat] Meehan's district may [also] wind up on the chopping block." Full story.
 
- Speaking of Meehan, the House Ethics Committee said Monday it has opened an investigation into sexual harassment allegations against the GOP lawmaker, POLITICO's Elana Schor reports.
 
- Despite the court's ruling, the PA-18 special on March 13 will continue under the old district lines. POLITICO's Alex Isenstadt reported Monday that Congressional Leadership Fund "is prepping a $1.5 million TV campaign" to boost Republican Rick Saccone, beginning this Friday. Full story.
 
- "Democratic poll shows close race in PA-18 special," by Schneider: "A Democratic poll conducted for a labor union shows Pennsylvania GOP state Rep. Rick Saccone with only a 3-point lead in a closely watched special congressional election in March. The poll, conducted for AFL-CIO affiliate SMART Transportation Division, shows Saccone with 41 percent of the vote, while Democrat Conor Lamb has 38 percent. ... DFM Research interviewed 384 voters on cell phones and landlines from Jan. 18-19, reached via random-digit dialing. The margin of error is plus or minus 5 percentage points." Full story here.
 
Days until the 2018 election: 286 
 
Upcoming election dates - Arizona 8th District special primary: Feb. 27. Texas primaries: March 6. Pennsylvania 18th District special election: March 13. Illinois primaries: March 20.
 
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HOW IT ENDED - "Tested lone red-state Democrat to vote against funding deal," by Campaign Pro's Kevin Robillard: "Nine of the 10 Democrats running for reelection in states President Donald Trump carried in 2016 voted for a three-week extension of government funding [on Monday]. ... The one exception was Montana Sen. Jon Tester, who voted against the deal." Full story here.
 
- "Senate Democrats' '2020 caucus' votes against shutdown deal," by Schor: "Senate Democrats' 2020 caucus united today against the deal to end the government shutdown. The opposition from the more than a half-dozen liberal senators who are seen as potential challengers to President Donald Trump wasn't unexpected. ... But their votes against a three-week government funding bill, H.R. 195 (115), underscore their alignment with a liberal base that is eager to take a hard line against Trump. ... [Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.)] joined Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) in voting against advancing the
 three-week government funding bill." Full story here.
 
ON THE AIR - McSally reserves February airtime: GOP Rep. Martha McSally, who is running for the nomination to replace Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake, has reserved her first television ads of the campaign. So far, according to Advertising Analytics, the buy totals $26,000 from Feb. 18-25 and covers Phoenix.
 
Q4 NUMBERS - 
 
- DCCC raises $9.5M in December, $105M for all of 2017: "The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee raised $9.5 million last month, bringing its year-end haul to $105 million - beating the National Republican Congressional Committee by $20 million last year. The DCCC topped the NRCC, which brought in $4 million in December, for the eighth month in a row. The NRCC announced last week that it raised $85 million last year." Full story. 
 
- CA-48: Democrat Harley Rouda has $830,000 in cash on hand, per a statement from his campaign. 
 
- KY-06: Democrat Jim Gray raised $340,000 since jumping into the race in December, ending the year with $320,000 in cash on hand. Gray did not make any personal contributions.
 
- NY-21: Democrat Don Boyajian raised just under $150,000 last quarter, finishing 2017 with $290,000 in cash on hand. 
 
- "Kid Rock sends $122K from fake campaign to voter group," by The Detroit News' Melissa Nann Burke: "Kid Rock last month donated $122,000 of the money raised by selling merchandise promoting 'Kid Rock for US Senate' - his fake political campaign - to a voter-registration organization affiliated with the College Republicans, his publicist said. ... [T]he money raised went to CRNC Action, an affiliate of the College Republicans that did voter-registration work last summer at his concerts, said Kid Rock publicist Jay Jones." Full story.
 
TO THE LEFT - "House Progressives readying plan to influence primaries," by McClatchy's Alex Roarty: "The Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC's plan takes advantage of the wave of progressive energy that has transformed the Democratic Party since Donald Trump's election, one that has turned millions of voters into engaged liberal activists and pushed issues such as single-payer health care to the forefront. Like many liberal groups last year, the PAC saw a spike in fundraising: It raised $561,000 last year, an official with the PAC said. That's nearly double the $297,000 the group raised during a two-year period last election cycle." Full story.
 
ENDORSEMENT WATCH - Priebus endorses Vukmir in Wisconsin: Former RNC chairman and Trump White House chief of staff Reince Priebus is endorsing state Sen. Leah Vukmir over businessman and veteran Kevin Nicholson in the Wisconsin GOP primary to challenge Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin. "Thanks to Leah and so many other Republican leaders in Wisconsin, taxes are lower and more Wisconsinites are working than ever before," said Priebus, who chaired the Wisconsin GOP before his election as RNC chair. "Leah is a proven leader who will stand with President Trump to help enact his bold, conservative agenda in Congress, and work to achieve security and prosperity for every American." The endorsement
 puts Priebus on the opposite side of the race from former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, who backed Nicholson before his falling out with the president earlier this month. 
 
POLL - "Cruz PAC poll: Montenegro, Lesko lead AZ-08 primary field," by Schneider: "Sen. Ted Cruz's (R-Texas) leadership PAC is out with an internal poll that shows Steve Montenegro, Cruz's endorsed candidate, atop the crowded Republican primary field in next month's special election primary to replace Arizona Rep. Trent Franks, along with former state Sen. Debbie Lesko. Montenegro, a former Arizona state senator who picked up Cruz's endorsement, leads the pack with 24 percent of support among likely GOP voters, according to the internal poll, running neck-and-neck with Lesko, who is at 22 percent. Former state Rep. Bob Stump is in third place, with 11 percent. ... The poll, conducted by
 Remington Research from Jan. 20-21, robocalled 787 likely GOP primary voters. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points." Full story here.
 
NEW HOUSE CANDIDATE - "San Diego Supervisor Kristin Gaspar to run for Issa's seat in Congress," by the San Diego Union-Tribune's Joshua Stewart: "After a trip to Washington D.C. last week, San Diego County Supervisor Kristin Gaspar has formed a committee to run for Congress. ... Gaspar, 38, who recently became chairwoman of the Board of Supervisors, was on Capitol Hill last week, where she met for 10 minutes with House Speaker Paul Ryan. ... Jason Roe was Gaspar's consultant in the 2016 race, and Federal Election Commission paperwork for her campaign includes his office's address." Full story here.
 
WEB WARS - Everytown launches microsite on NRA and Russia connections: Everytown, a gun reform group, is out with a new interactive website that shows "the ties" between Trump, the NRA and Russia. Check out the site here. 
 
STAFFING UP - John Thompson rejoins Targeted Victory: John Thompson is returning to Targeted Victory as managing director. He was previously the president of the data and digital firm Reignite LLC and before that served as digital director for Rick Perry's presidential campaign as well as Cruz's presidential campaign in 2016.
 
- Mike Gwin to work for Richard Cordray: Mike Gwin, an Ohio native and Obama administration alumni, is joining Richard Cordray's communications team. 
 
QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Your constituents want you to fight. How can you possibly not understand that?" tweeted Leah Greenberg, co-executive director of the progressive group Indivisible, on Senate Democrats' decision to strike a deal ending the shutdown. (H/t: Elana Schor.)
 
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