Subject: POLITICO's Morning Score: House Democrats’ million-dollar fundraising club — Hawley fundraising jumps but McCaskill raises more — Paulsen breaks from Trump in television ad
From: "Morning Score" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 12 Jul 2018 08:02:05 -0600
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By Zach Montellaro and Scott Bland | 07/12/2018 10:00 AM EDT

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)
 
At least 13 Democratic House challengers have already announced they raised over $1 million in the second quarter of 2018, with a few more days to go until the FEC filing deadline: Josh Harder (CA-10), Andrew Janz (CA-22), Katie Hill (CA-25), Katie Porter (CA-45), Jason Crow (CO-06), Angie Craig (MN-02), Andy Kim (NJ-03), Lizzie Pannill Fletcher (TX-07), Gina Ortiz Jones (TX-23), MJ Hegar (TX-31), Colin Allred (TX-32), Jennifer Wexton (VA-10) and Randy Bryce (WI-01). 
 
There is no historical parallel to this class of seven-figure fundraisers. In the second quarter of 2016, only 2 House challengers raised over $1 million without self-funding, according to a review of FEC records: Democratic challengers Zephyr Teachout in NY-19 and Tim Canova in FL-23, where he was waging a primary campaign against Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
 
Going back to 2010, only two other non-self-funded, non-incumbent House candidates have raised over $1 million in the second quarter of an election year: Massachusetts Democrat Joe Kennedy in 2012 and Florida Republican Allen West in 2010. (Both, of course, won their elections - West in a battleground and Kennedy in a fairly safe Democratic district.) A number of self-funders and incumbents have raised seven figures at this point in an election cycle before, as have special election candidates with upcoming races. But until now, it has been rare from non-incumbent, non-self-funding challengers.
 
So where is all the money coming from? The simple answer is huge energy in the Democratic base. Online fundraising is playing a bigger role than ever - especially for some candidates who have gone viral, like Hegar and Bryce, or those running against a national Democratic bogeyman, like Janz, who's facing Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes. Another big pool of cash has come from district funds set up by groups like Daily Kos and Swing Left. Those groups bottled Democratic enthusiasm in 2017 and collected donations for the eventual nominees during the legislative fights over health care and taxes, before disbursing hundreds of thousands of dollars to primary winners over the past four months.
 A person involved with multiple Democratic House campaigns also told Score that checks from major donors organizing to aid candidates directly have started to flow in, further bolstering candidates' hauls.
 
Look for still more Democrats to join the club. One candidate (among others) to watch is Mikie Sherrill in NJ-11, who was halfway to $1 million at the midpoint of the quarter, according to her pre-primary FEC report. KY-06 Democrat Amy McGrath, whose personal story went viral in 2017, raised over $441,000 from online donations alone in April and May, according to FEC records. And while clearing seven figures definitely catches the eye, don't forget that other Democratic challengers have announced very large hauls over three-quarters of a million, including Abby Finkenauer (IA-01), Susie Lee (NV-03), Aftab Pureval (OH-01), Susan Wild (PA-07) and Elaine Luria (VA-02).
 
Republicans won't be defenseless financially - and incumbent Reps. Brian Mast (FL-18), Barbara Comstock (VA-10) and Peter Roskam (IL-06) have all announced raising about $1 million - but the wave of second-quarter announcements from Democrats has been notable.
 
Good Thursday morning. Any bets for when the first "nap destination" store will show up in D.C.? As always, you can email me at [email-masked] or DM me at @ZachMontellaro. A thanks to Campaign Pro chief Scott Bland ([email-masked]; @PoliticoScott) for tag teaming the Democratic fundraising wave breakdown.
 
Email the rest of the great Campaign Pro team at [email-masked], [email-masked], [email-masked] and [email-masked]. Follow them on Twitter: @JamesArkin, @MaggieSeverns, ec_schneider and @DanielStrauss4.
 
Days until the 2018 election: 117.
 
Upcoming election dates - July 17: Alabama primary runoffs. - July 24: Georgia primary runoffs. - Aug. 2: Tennessee primaries. - Aug. 7: Kansas, Michigan, Missouri and Washington primaries.
 
Upcoming primary filing deadlines - Louisiana: July 20.
 
MORE EARLY FUNDRAISING - AZ-SEN: Democratic Rep. Kyrsten Sinema raised more than $3.25 million and has more than $5.3 million cash on hand, per a release.
 
MO-SEN: Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill raised more than $4.3 million and has $12.2 million cash on hand, per her campaign.
 
- More MO-SEN: Republican Josh Hawley raised nearly $1.9 million and had just over $3 million cash on hand.
 
- Even more MO-SEN: Republican Austin Petersen's campaign said he raised more than $130,000 last quarter.
 
- MS-SEN: "Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith raised more than $1.6 million in her first three months as a senator and candidate for Mississippi's November special election," Campaign Pro's Daniel Strauss and James Arkin scooped.
 
- NJ-SEN: Republican Bob Hugin put $15.5 million of his own money into his race and raised an additional $1.2 million from other donors, per POLITICO New Jersey.
 
- TX-SEN: Democratic Rep. Beto O'Rourke raised more than $10.4 million and has over $14 million cash on hand, per The Texas Tribune.
 
- VA-SEN: Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine raised over $2.2 million and has $6 million cash on hand, per his campaign.
 
- WI-SEN: Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin raised nearly $4.4 million and has more than $7.2 million cash on hand, per her campaign.
 
- AZ-09: Democrat Greg Stanton raised about $460,000 and has over $1.1 million cash on hand, per his camp.
 
- CA-22: Janz raised over $1.4 million, per his campaign.
 
- CO-06: Crow raised over $1 million and has $1.3 million cash on hand, per a release.
 
- FL-07: Democratic Rep. Stephanie Murphy raised over $550,000 during the quarter and has $1.6 million cash on hand, per a release.
 
- FL-26: GOP Rep. Carlos Curbelo raised about $785,000 and has $2.6 million in the bank, via the Miami Herald.
 
- ME-02: Democrat Jared Golden raised more than $560,000, per a release.
 
- VA-02: Democrat Elaine Luria raised over $930,000, per a release.
 
- VA-07: Republican Rep. Dave Brat raised over $480,000 and has more than $917,000 cash on hand, per a release.
 
- More VA-07: Democrat Abigail Spanberger raised more than $615,000, per a release.
 
- VA-10: Wexton announced she raised over $1 million, including $700,000 in the final two weeks of June after her primary victory, per her campaign.
 
LEADERSHIP BATTLE - House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy publicly says he is not campaigning to be the next speaker. But POLITICO's John Bresnahan and Rachael Bade report that behind the scenes, he's already working the conference: "He isn't talking to every member of the House GOP Conference, according to lawmakers who have spoken to him about the issue. Instead, McCarthy is targeting select lawmakers who represent different factions of the conference. McCarthy is hoping that locking up those members now will serve as a 'force multiplier' if and when he formally announces a bid for speaker. His ask, according to those on the receiving end, is simple and direct. 'Kevin asked me for my
 vote,' said a veteran Republican lawmaker who asked not to be named."
 
MORE SCOTUS POLITICKING - The RNC is making the battle over the Supreme Court a rallying cry in 10 battleground states. CNN's Daniella Diaz and Eric Bradner: "The RNC plans to make Brett Kavanaugh's nomination the focus of phone calls and door-to-door visits with flyers and petitions, as well as Facebook and Twitter ad buys, email campaigns, volunteer training efforts and op-eds in key areas. The RNC has committed $250 million toward the midterms, a staffer said. ... The states the RNC is focusing on are Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Indiana, Ohio, Florida, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan."
 
ON THE AIRWAVES - Republican Rep. Erik Paulsen is breaking from the president in his first television spot in Minnesota's 3rd District. "When President Trump tried to take away important environmental protections for the Boundary Waters, I said, 'No way,'" he says in the ad. "I'll stand up to my party, or President Trump to protect Minnesota."
 
- The Congressional Leadership Fund, which is aligned with House GOP leadership, is going up with a new broadcast buy of at least $203,000 in OH-12 from July 12-17, per Advertising Analytics. The NRCC is also spending more on TV in the district, adding at least $254,000 more on broadcast TV in the two weeks before the primary, also per Advertising analytics.
 
- Senate Majority PAC is up with a new ad in Florida. Campaign Pro's James Arkin: "'In here you see it all. We got an opioid crisis. A doctor shortage. Seniors struggling to pay for care,' an ER doctor says over shots of a hospital interior. 'But even with all that Rick Scott vetoed millions in healthcare funds and refused federal funds that would've covered 750,000 Floridians.' The ad then flips to the doctor praising [Sen. Bill Nelson] for his record. ... SMP is spending $2.6 million on the ad, according to a spokesman."
 
REDRAWING THE MAP - The National Democratic Redistricting Committee is swinging into action, with former President Barack Obama releasing a video talking about the importance of congressional districts. POLITICO's Edward-Isaac Dovere: "The NDRC has zeroed in on a list of state legislature races for November, identifying specific targets in each priority state for the first stage of its attempted gerrymandering revolution ahead of the 2020 census. The goal, aides to the group are telling prospective donors, is to put as many as 29 House seats in 12 states within reach for Democrats. The NDRC is preparing to do fundraising and organize campaign visits, including by Obama and former Attorney
 General Eric Holder, who is leading the group."
 
THE CAVALRY - The NRCC named 18 candidates to its Young Guns "Vanguard" program, which aims to help candidates in GOP-leaning seats. The candidates: Russ Fulcher (ID-01), Jim Baird (IN-04), Greg Pence (IN-06), Michael Guest (MS-03), Kelly Armstrong (ND-AL), Dan Meuser (PA-09), John Joyce (PA-13), Guy Reschenthaler (PA-14), Katie Arrington (SC-01), William Timmons (SC-04), Dusty Johnson (SD-AL), Dan Crenshaw (TX-02), Van Taylor (TX-03), Lance Gooden (TX-05), Ron Wright (TX-06), Chip Roy (TX-21), Michael Cloud (TX-27) and Ben Cline (VA-06).
 
BIG MONEY - Florida Gov. Rick Scott has amassed a large fortune that has grown since he took office. The Miami Herald's Mary Ellen Klas dives into his blind trust, including the sale of a company called Continental Structural Plastics. "The assets in Scott's trust are supposed to be blind to him, and managed by an independent trustee. He was to have no knowledge of transactions within the trust and make no decisions regarding it. But for years, the Herald/Times reported in 2014, Scott's family bought and sold assets that mirror those held by Scott's blind trust and had them managed by the same team of financial advisers who worked on Scott's investments before he became governor."
 
CORNHUSKER BLUES - One place Republicans aren't worried is Nebraska. POLITICO's Burgess Everett emails Score: GOP "Sen. Deb Fischer is up 63-28 (including leaners) over her Democratic challenger Jane Raybould in a head-to-head of likely voters, according to polling done in the field by [GOP firm] Grassroots Targeting in late June and obtained by POLITICO. President Donald Trump's approval is staying strong too despite his tariffs hurting some commodity industries in the heartland: 40 percent of likely voters strongly approve of Trump, 20 percent somewhat approve, 7 percent somewhat disapprove and 29 percent strongly disapprove.The poll surveyed 1,000 registered voters has a margin of error
 of 3.1 percentage points." 
 
GO WEST - America Rising Squared is launching a Colorado branch today. Colorado Rising - a 501(c)(4) organization - is the second state outpost after Missouri Rising. Lindsey Singer will be on the ground in the state as communications director.
 
GRAND THEFT ADVERTISING - Rep. Tom Reed's (R-N.Y.) campaign found a creative way to figure out where its missing signs went. The Ithaca Journal's Matt Steecker: "A leader of a group that regularly protests against U.S. Rep. Tom Reed has been charged with petit larceny after being accused of stealing campaign signs. Following the disappearance of campaign signs, members of Tom Reed's campaign team installed a tracker in the signs, which eventually led them to the home of Gary McCaslin. ... McCaslin's lawyer, Christina Sonsire, said he was practicing stewardship when he removed Reed's sign on July 2 six days after the primary election."
 
CODA - "If we don't have a vote, then what good are we?" William Owen, a DNC member who is organizing to try to block a proposal to limit the power of superdelegates, to POLITICO's David Siders.
 
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