Subject: POLITICO's Morning Score: Hyde-Smith wins in Mississippi — Maloney asks for DCCC election delay after hospitalization — Cuomo says he won’t run for president
From: "Morning Score" <[email-masked]>
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Date: Wed, 28 Nov 2018 09:05:48 -0600
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11/28/2018 10:00 AM EDT
        
By ZACH MONTELLARO ([email-masked]; @ZachMontellaro)

        
Editor's Note: This edition of Free Morning Score is published weekdays at 10 a.m. POLITICO Pro Campaigns subscribers hold exclusive early access to the newsletter each morning at 6 a.m. To learn more about POLITICO Pro's comprehensive policy intelligence coverage, policy tools and services, click here. 
          THE TOPLINES         
THE LAST SENATE RACE - Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith defeated Democrat Mike Espy in the Mississippi special election runoff, holding on to her seat. The AP called the race a bit before 10:30 p.m. Eastern.

Republicans pulled out all the stops to ensure that the seat in the ruby red state didn't fall into Democratic hands, including two rallies from President Donald Trump on Monday to help seal the deal. Here's more from Campaign Pro's James Arkin, who was on the ground in Jackson, Miss.

And with those results, the battle for the Senate comes to an official close. Republicans picked up a net of two seats in the upper chamber, winning in Florida, Missouri, Indiana and North Dakota but dropping seats in Nevada and Arizona. The balance of power rests at 53-47 in favor of the GOP. The cycle began with Democrats defending 10 seats in states Trump won in 2016, and Republicans defending just one (Nevada) that Hillary Clinton carried.

Good Wednesday morning. As always, email me at [email-masked] or DM me at @ZachMontellaro. 

Email the great Campaign Pro team at [email-masked], [email-masked], [email-masked] and [email-masked]. Follow them on Twitter: @PoliticoScott, @JamesArkin, @ec_schneider and @DanielStrauss4.

Days until the 2019 election: 342

Days until the 2020 election: 706

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          IN THE TRENCHES         
LEADERSHIP ELECTIONS - The battle for the speaker's gavel continues today, when Democrats vote behind closed doors for their party leader (my POLITICO colleagues Rachael Bade, Heather Caygle and John Bresnahan reported that Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is projecting a lot of confidence ahead of the caucus' vote). But also being decided today is the last party committee chair up for grabs: DCCC chief. Four candidates have thrown their hats into the ring: Illinois Rep. Cheri Bustos, New York Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney and Washington Reps. Suzan DelBene and Denny Heck. The Playbook team reported that leadership elections kick off at 10 a.m. today. 

But a wrinkle in that DCCC vote: Maloney has been hospitalized with an infection and has asked for the election for that spot to be delayed. More from POLITICO's John Bresnahan: "However, it's not clear if that election can be delayed. House Democrats will meet on Wednesday to begin organizing for the next Congress. Rep. Joe Crowley (N.Y.) is the chairman of the Democratic Caucus, but he lost reelection and is retiring. Thus, the decision on whether to delay the DCCC vote would be up to whoever wins the caucus chair race between Reps. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) and Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.). That election will take place on Wednesday."

- And speaking of the DCCC: Playbook also reported some postmortem numbers from the committee. The DCCC invested in 101 districts, dropping $62 million on female candidates, $39 million on non-white candidates, $25.6 million on veteran and CIA candidates and $9.2 million LGBTQ candidates. 

THE 2020 MAP - If Democrats are to take the Senate in 2020, they'll have to make inroads in Trump country. More from James: Republicans "must defend nearly twice as many seats in 2020 as they did in 2018. But only two of those Republicans are up for reelection in states President Donald Trump lost in 2016 - meaning that Democrats can't win back the Senate without winning new seats in Trump states in the next election.

"That includes some Trump-state targets where it's been a decade or more since voters picked a Democratic senator. Democrats will need to find candidates who can outrun their presidential nominee, as Trump drives his supporters to the polls in 2020. What's more, those Democrats will likely need to overcome incumbent Republican senators, which has proven a tough hurdle in recent years. ... Democrats are already scouring the 2020 states for candidates ... especially in four key Trump states that are in the middle of the path to the majority: Arizona, Georgia, Iowa and North Carolina."

THE PRESIDENTIAL BIG BOARD - New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he is ruling out a White House run (but hey, how many times have we heard that from a politician?). "I am ruling it out," he told WNYC's Brian Lehrer. "I ran for governor. I have a full plate. I have many projects."

- The will he, won't he continues for Rep. Beto O'Rourke. POLITICO's David Siders writes how O'Rourke "masters the art of the tease": "The interest from Democratic donors and operatives appeared to answer an immediate question about the legitimacy of O'Rourke's presidential prospects, after narrowly losing the Texas Senate race to Republican Ted Cruz. But his appearance this week - his first public event since the election - also laid bare the precariousness of his timing. O'Rourke has yet to make overtures in critical primary states, while other Democrats are already courting operatives and activists there."

DOWN IN GEORGIA - A group backed by Stacey Abrams, the Democrat who lost the Georgia gubernatorial election to Republican Gov.-elect Brian Kemp, filed a federal suit over how the state's elections are conducted. The AP's Kate Brumback: "The lawsuit was filed in Atlanta by Fair Fight Action against interim Secretary of State Robyn Crittenden and state election board members. It asks a judge to correct problems with the state's elections system."

THE GUN LOBBY - The NRA, a usual major spender in federal elections, saw a drop of $55 million in income last year. The Daily Beast's Lachlan Markay: "The National Rifle Association of America reported $98 million in contributions in 2017, down from nearly $125 million in 2016, according to new tax records obtained by The Daily Beast. Nearly a fifth of its contributions last year came from a single anonymous donor, who chipped in nearly $19 million to the group. ... On the whole, the 2017 finances indicate a reversion to the mean for the storied gun rights group."

HOLD UP - North Carolina's elections board is delaying finalizing the results of NC-09, where Republican Mark Harris narrowly beat Democrat Dan McCready (the AP called the race for Harris). The Charlotte Observer's Jim Morrill: Election board member Joshua Malcolm "asked the board to remove the 9th District from the list of those to be certified. 'I'm very familiar with unfortunate activities that have been happening down in my part of the state,' vice chair Malcolm, a Robeson County Democrat, told the board. ... Malcolm cited a statute that allows the board the authority to take any necessary action 'to assure that an election is determined without taint of fraud or corruption and without
 irregularities that may have changed the result of an election.' Republicans cried foul."

THE ARIZONA SEAT - If Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) steps down, could Rep. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.) be appointed to finish the term even after she lost the Senate race this cycle? The Washington Post's Sean Sullivan: "In a telephone call confirmed by two people familiar with the conversation, [Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell] told [GOP Gov. Doug] Ducey: If there is an opening, consider appointing Martha &shy;McSally, the Republican congresswoman who came up short in her bid for Arizona's other Senate seat this year. But some Republicans in Arizona, including those in Ducey's inner circle, have reservations about appointing McSally."

DARK MONEY WATCH - Ending Spending Inc., a dark money nonprofit founded by members of the Ricketts family, raised $1 million in 2017 and spent $5.4 million, according to a copy of its 990 form obtained by CREW.

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "[H]ere we are: 2020 is looming, contenders are ramping up their campaigns, and the season for glossy hardbacks full of declarative sentences, false modesty, and Abraham Lincoln quotes is upon us," NPR book critic Annalisa Quinn while reviewing Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-Vt.) new book.
    
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