Subject: POLITICO's Morning Score: Sanford falls in South Carolina — McMaster to runoff — Wexton takes Democratic primary in VA-10 — AFP bashes Whitmer in Michigan
From: "Morning Score" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 13 Jun 2018 08:02:39 -0600
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By Daniel Strauss | 06/13/2018 10:00 AM EDT

With Maggie Severns 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)
 
SANFORD GOES DOWN - "Rep. Mark Sanford lost his primary to a pro-Trump challenger in South Carolina Tuesday night, as GOP voters turned against one of congressional Republicans' most vocal critics of the administration. State Rep. Katie Arrington took just over half of the GOP primary vote - 50.6 percent - with 99 percent of precincts reporting, just over the threshold to win the nomination instead of facing Sanford in a one-on-one runoff. ... Sanford is the second House member to lose a primary in 2018, following Rep. Robert Pittenger (R-N.C.). And Sanford is the second Republican Trump critic in two weeks to run into primary trouble; last week in Alabama, Rep. Martha Roby fell below 50
 percent of the vote and was pulled into a runoff in her first primary since declaring she would not vote for Trump in 2016, following the publication of his vulgar comments in the 'Access Hollywood' tape. Roby has since tried to mend fences, but she still suffered a sharp drop in Republican primary support this year." Our roundup of Tuesday's results.
 
- "Sanford's fatal sin: Crossing Donald Trump," by POLITICO's Alex Isenstadt: "In the end, it wasn't the Appalachian Trail that brought down Mark Sanford. It was President Donald Trump. The South Carolina congressman's stunning defeat in Tuesday's Republican primary effectively ended the turbulent two-decade career of a political icon who once harbored presidential aspirations. From his time as a congressman in the 1990s, to his eight-year governorship, to his unexpected House comeback that followed, Sanford had long established himself as a figure who cut against the grain - the rare politician who loved to break with his own party. Yet in taking on Trump, his friends and political allies
 say, he took it a step too far. His defeat is bound to raise fears among Republicans about the political perils of crossing a president who remains deeply popular with GOP voters. In recent days, Sanford himself had expressed concern that a loss in the primary would discourage what dwindling GOP dissent among against the White House remains." Full story. 
 
- Tuesday's Senate results were completely expected: Sen. Dean Heller (R) and Rep. Jacky Rosen (D) brushed aside token opposition on their way to a clash in Nevada, while Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) will face Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp in another top 2018 matchup.
 
- HOUSE BATTLEGROUNDS - VA-10: Democratic state Sen. Jennifer Wexton ran away with the Democratic primary to face GOP Rep. Barbara Comstock in a Democratic-trending district.
 
- VA-07: Democrat Abigail Spanberger won the Democratic nomination to face Rep. David Brat in Virginia's 7th Congressional District.
 
- VA-02: Navy veteran Elaine Luria took the Democratic primary and will run against GOP Rep. Scott Taylor in the fall.
 
- NV-03: Democrat Susie Lee and Republican Danny Tarkanian easily won their primaries and will face off in November for this Democratic-held, Trump-carried battleground seat left open by Rosen.
 
- NV-04: It's a rematch - ex-Reps. Steven Horsford (D) and Cresent Hardy (R) will reprise their 2014 campaign.
 
- ME-02: Democrat Jared Golden was in command early Wednesday morning and flirting with a majority in his primary, but he may need some second-choice votes under Maine's ranked-choice system to officially lock up the nomination to face GOP Rep. Bruce Poliquin.
 
- GOVERNORS - Nevada: Clark County Commissioner Steve Sisolak dispatched fellow commissioner Chris Giunchigliani in the Democratic primary, while Attorney General Adam Laxalt won by an even bigger margin on the GOP side.
 
- Maine: Businessman Shawn Moody got the Republican nomination, but we might be waiting a while for the Democratic nominee. Maine's ranked-choice voting system will kick in if no one gets a majority, and Janet Mills and Adam Cote were first and second with less than a third of the vote each early Wednesday morning.
 
- And some unwelcome news for both parties - Corey Stewart wins GOP Senate nod in Virginia: Republican Corey Stewart won the Republican nomination for Senate to face Sen. Tim Kaine.
 
- Parnell wins SC-05 primary: Democrat Archie Parnell won the Democratic primary for South Carolina's 5th Congressional District despite revelations of domestic abuse.
 
SEE ALL RESULTS HERE - MAINE | NEVADA | NORTH DAKOTA | SOUTH CAROLINA | VIRGINIA.
 
AIR WARS - "Americans for Prosperity drops $1.7 on ad attacking Whitmer," by Maggie Severns: "Americans for Prosperity, an organization started by the Koch brothers, will air a $1.7 million television campaign attacking Michigan Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gretchen Whitmer. The ad builds on a six figure digital campaign that AFP ran focused on Whitmer in May and focuses on Whitmer's economic policies.
 
'For fourteen years, Gretchen Whitmer's policies failed to jumpstart Michigan's economy,' a narrator says in the ad. 'Gretchen Whitmer's policies drove Michigan's economic engines into the ground. Why would we put her back at the wheel?' The ad will air statewide for three weeks beginning on June 14th. Watch the ad here." Full story. 
 
Days until the 2018 election: 146
 
Upcoming election dates - June 26: Colorado, Maryland, New York (congressional), Oklahoma and Utah primaries and Mississippi and South Carolina primary runoffs. 
 
Upcoming filing deadlines - New Hampshire: June 15. - Rhode Island: June 27. - Delaware: July 10.
 
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You can also follow us on Twitter: @politicoscott, @ec_schneider, @danielstrauss4, @maggieseverns and @jamesarkin. 
 
How can Washington help the financial well-being of future American retirees? POLITICO convened leading thinkers and policymakers to identify some solutions. Read the full report. Presented by Prudential
 
FLIGHT PLAN - "Claire McCaskill's Private Plane Used on Campaign's RV Tour Through Missouri" by The Washington Free Beacon's Brent Scher: "Sen. Claire McCaskill (D., Mo.) said her campaign was "hitting the road" in an RV to tour the state, but public flight information indicates that travel also occurred on her million-dollar private plane. The RV, named BigBlue by the campaign, was unveiled late last month by McCaskill, who said she was "very excited to hit the road" in it for an upcoming "Veterans for Claire" tour. The campaign kept a live blog of its three-day RV trip from May 29 to May 31, posting updates of its whereabouts." Full story. 
 
THE PLOT THICKENS - "This new poll about Ohio's 2018 election should worry Republicans" by The Cincinnati Enquirer's Chrissie Thompson and Scott Wartman: "Even in a strong year for Democrats, Republicans assumed they could count on the Ohio governor's race. Maybe not. A new Enquirer / Suffolk University poll - the first statewide, independent poll since the Ohio primary - showed Democrat Richard Cordray leading Republican Mike DeWine in the governor's race, 43 percent to 36 percent among likely voters." Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown also has a lead in the poll, 53 percent to 37 percent over GOP Rep. Jim Renacci.  Full story. 
 
BAND BACK TOGETHER - "Obama-Linked Group to Mobilize Democrats in Battle for House" by The New York Times' Alexander Burns: "The political committee formed by former President Barack Obama is preparing to mobilize for the 2018 midterm campaign, targeting more than two dozen congressional races and several key state elections with a program aimed at turning out Democratic-leaning voters. The group, Organizing for Action, which emerged from the vestiges of Mr. Obama's old campaign operation, intends to deploy organizers in 27 Republican-held congressional districts that could be key to a Democratic takeover of the House of Representatives. Their mission, officials with the group said, will be
 to coordinate and train volunteers and deploy them to help Democrats in states from California to North Carolina...The new effort offers fresh insight into Mr. Obama's political agenda for 2018: The Organizing for Action campaign emerged in part from a February meeting between the former president and strategists including Katie Hogan, the group's executive director. In the meeting, Mr. Obama conveyed in no uncertain terms that recapturing the House and helping Democrats gain more influence in the redistricting process were two of his top goals, people familiar with the conversation said." Full story. 
 
MONEY RACE - Greg Pence gets organized: Greg Pence, candidate for Congress in Indiana's 6th congressional district and brother of Vice President Mike Pence, recently won his primary and is building a political organization out in Indiana. Pence recently formed a leadership PAC called Mustang PAC, per federal filings. And on Tuesday he registered a joint fundraising committee, Greg Pence Victory. The committee benefits Pence's congressional bid, his leadership PAC, Mike Pence's leadership PAC (called Great America Committee) and the NRCC. See the filing here.
 
ON THE AIRWAVES - Walters attacks Porter in first general election ad in CA-45: GOP Rep. Mimi Walters released her first TV ad in the general election, going after Democrat Katie Porter, who "has called radical Elizabeth Warren a mentor," the TV ad's narrator says. Watch the ad here. 
 
BATTLEGROUND WATCH - Minnesota Republican Pete Stauber, a candidate in open MN-08 - the second-most Republican-leaning district held by House Democrats - touted President Donald Trump's upcoming visit to Duluth in an email Tuesday urging supporters to attend. Democratic Rep. Rick Nolan is retiring; Trump carried the district 54-38 in 2016.
 
CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "He is better off in Argentina," - President Donald Trump in a tweet on Rep. Mark Sanford, hours before Sanford lost his party's primary for renomination. 
 
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