Subject: POLITICO's Morning Score: Republicans hope Greitens resignation helps Hawley — Trump endorses Donovan over Grimm — Kevin Cramer lashes out at Marc Short in radio interview
From: "Morning Score" <[email-masked]>
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Date: Thu, 31 May 2018 08:02:23 -0600
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By Maggie Severns | 05/31/2018 10:00 AM EDT

With Zach Montellaro, Scott Bland 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)
 
MOVING RIGHT ALONG - "Republicans hope Greitens resignation lifts cloud over Hawley," by POLITICO's James Arkin: "Republicans in Missouri and Washington want to put soon-to-be-former Gov. Eric Greitens behind them as quickly as possible and get back to their original plan for 2018: beating Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill. There had been growing concern in Republican circles that the scandals and investigations surrounding Greitens would engulf state Attorney General Josh Hawley, the GOP front-runner to take on McCaskill. ... 
 
"Republicans admitted that it was having an impact on the Senate race, which has long been seen as one of their best opportunities to expand a 51-49 majority. But with Greitens leaving office Friday, they hope to put the saga in the rearview mirror. 'I think there's no doubt that this extended publicity and situation with regard to Greitens was a handicap for Josh Hawley,' said former Sen. John Danforth, who helped recruit Hawley to the race. 'That handicap is no longer there.'" Full story.  
 
GRIMM TIDINGS - Trump endorses NY-11's Donovan over Grimm on Twitter: Former GOP Rep. Michael Grimm has attacked incumbent Dan Donovan as insufficiently pro-Trump as he wages a comeback campaign. But the president weighed in on Donovan's behalf Wednesday evening, about four weeks before the Republican primary. "There is no one better to represent the people of N.Y. and Staten Island (a place I know very well) than @RepDanDonovan, who is strong on Borders & Crime, loves our Military & our Vets, voted for Tax Cuts and is helping me to Make America Great Again. Dan has my full endorsement!" President Donald Trump tweeted. Grimm replied: "All the endorsements in the world can't change the
 facts: Donovan ... has voted against President Trump every time it's mattered."
 
THE OLD ONE-TWO: Rep. Kevin Cramer gave an extended local radio interview Wednesday following POLITICO's report on Republican concerns over Trump's courting of Sen. Heidi Heitkamp. Some highlights: 
 
- Cramer lashed out at White House legislative director Marc Short: "If Marc Short was very good at his job, you know, we'd have a repeal and replacement of Obamacare ... Marc Short seems to be part of the issue and it just seems to be an argument between Marc Short and other people in the White House."
 
- On Heitkamp associating with Trump: "In some respects it even smacks of desperation that I don't think very many people find appealing ... I find it more amusing that she's trying to beef up her Trump credentials to prove herself worthy of being my opponent, whose credentials as it relates to Donald Trump aren't really in question."
 
- Cramer also said Heitkamp was not a "reliable" vote for Trump, on major issues, and he expected those would come up when Trump eventually does a campaign rally in North Dakota.
 
- "It has a chance of making them look very foolish but I think they're in a situation where that risk is worth taking right now if she can establish somehow that she's a Trumpster too."
 
More from POLITICO's Burgess Everett here.
 
Days until the 2018 election: 159.
 
Upcoming election dates - June 5: Alabama, California, Iowa, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico and South Dakota primaries - June 12: Maine, Nevada, North Dakota, South Carolina and Virginia primaries. June 26: Colorado, Maryland, New York (congressional), Oklahoma and Utah primaries and Mississippi and South Carolina primary runoffs.
 
Upcoming filing deadlines - Vermont: May 31 - Alaska, Kansas, Wisconsin and Wyoming: June 1 - Hawaii and Minnesota: June 5 - Connecticut: June 12.
 
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, @danielstrauss4, @maggieseverns, @jamesarkin.
 
- FIRST IN SCORE - POLLING DATA - Internal PA-16 poll shows Kelly under 50 percent in internal poll: Commissioned by Democrat Ron DiNicola's campaign, Public Policy Polling found that Rep. Mike Kelly is under 50 percent in job approval and in a head-to-head race. Kelly leads DiNicola, 48 percent to 43 percent. Check out the polling memo here. 
 
JUNE 5 PRIMARY PREVIEW - New poll shows GOP Rep. Kristi Noem, AG Marty Jackley in tight primary for South Dakota governor, via the Argus Leader's Dana Ferguson: A Mason-Dixon poll conducted for KELO and the Argus Leader shows Noem and Jackley neck-and-neck a week out from the primary, with Noem at 45 percent and Jackley at 44 percent. "Both campaigns seemed keenly aware of the tight nature of the race. In the days ahead of the primary, they took digs at one another in interviews with the Argus Leader and in television and radio ads that began airing over the weekend. 'Now we know why Congresswoman Noem launched her negative TV and radio attacks against Marty Jackley last week,' Jason Glodt,
 Jackley's campaign manager, said in a statement." Full story.
 
- MORE POLLS - Quinnipiac poll: Cruz 50, O'Rourke 39 in Texas: "Republican Sen. Ted Cruz leads Democratic Rep. Beto O'Rourke by 11 points, 50 percent to 39 percent, in the latest Quinnipiac poll of the Texas Senate race released Wednesday afternoon. Cruz led O'Rourke by only 3 percentage points in a Quinnipiac poll conducted in April. O'Rourke raised more than $600,000 online in the three days after that previous poll showed a narrow race." Full story.
 
SUPER PAC WATCH - "Parkland parents set up PAC to take on NRA," by the South Florida Sun Sentinel's Lisa Huriash: "State records show Families vs Assault Rifles PAC Inc. was registered as a nonprofit on May 18 by Jeff Kasky, the father of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High student activist Cameron Kasky, who is a founder of March for Our Lives. Jeff Kasky said the politicians 'who refuse to listen to their constituents and instead, in exchange for cash, do the NRA's bidding' will be its target." Full story.
 
DATA DEPT - "California Republicans hit rock bottom," by POLITICO's Carla Marinucci: "The state that spawned the 'Reagan Revolution' and Richard M. Nixon just experienced a watershed moment - the California Republican Party was officially relegated to third-party status. In the culmination of the withered state GOP's long slide toward near-political irrelevance here, new voter registration data released this week show the once-robust party trails behind both Democrats and 'no party preference' in the nation's most populous state. The California Republican Party is now outnumbered by independent voters by 73,000, according to Political Data Inc., which tabulates voter file data from county
 registrars." Full story.
 
- "Republicans target Trump voters in California push," by McClatchy's Katie Glueck: "The GOP's congressional campaign arm has mounted a six-figure digital effort focused on turning out Donald Trump voters in several of next week's California primaries, engaging in an early test of how to juice political participation from the president's base in some of the most potentially challenging districts for Republicans in the country. The National Republican Congressional Committee's efforts are playing out in the primaries in Southern California's 39th, 48th and 49th Congressional Districts - each of which Hillary Clinton won in 2016." Full story.
 
ON THE AIRWAVES - Keirstead drops final primary TV ad in CA-48: Democrat Hans Keirstead released his final TV ad in the primary, emphasizing his science background and that it's "time for government" to use "science and facts." Watch the ad here.
 
- Walker releases new ad in Wisconsin: Gov. Scott Walker's newest television ad focuses on his work to expand a program that helps people with disabilities enter the workforce. "Now I have a job I love. It's at the hospital, to help people, to make sure the equipment is clean," says Jordan, a man who benefited from the program, in the ad. "I have learned to be more confident in what I am doing." Watch the ad here.
 
- Helmer releases TV ad in VA-10: Democrat Dan Helmer says he's "different" and "not a politician" in his first TV ad. Helmer also attacks Trump, saying, "after 9/11, the greatest threat to our democracy lived in a cave. Today, he lives in the White House." Watch the ad here.
 
- Ryan pops second TV ad in NY-19: Democrat Pat Ryan released his second TV ad, a positive spot that shows Ryan saying, "being progressive is patriotic." Watch the ad here.
 
CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "We're with you, @KimKardashian," tweeted Koch Industries on Wednesday, potentially teeing up an unusual alliance. "We're with anyone and everyone working for solutions in sentencing and reentry."
 
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