Subject: POLITICO's Morning Score, presented by Sinclair Broadcast Group: Nonprofit pushes limits on hiding donors — Holding crushing Ellmers in cash race ahead of member-versus-member primary — More pre-primary fundraising
From: "Morning Score" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 27 May 2016 08:02:12 -0600

By Theodoric Meyer | 05/27/2016 10:00 AM EDT

With Elena Schneider, Kevin Robillard and Maggie Severns

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)

AGENTS OF SHIELD - "Nonprofit tests legal limits on donor disclosure," by Campaign Pro's Theodoric Meyer: "The Federal Election Commission recently declared its intent to crack down on donors who hide their identities by creating limited liability companies to use as pass-throughs for political giving. But the deeply divided agency may not be ready to apply that standard to nonprofits created for the same purpose - even as a developing case in Missouri features a clear-cut example of donors shielding their identities."

- "A super PAC that has roiled the Missouri governor's race, Patriots for America, disclosed last month that it has only one donor: a newly formed nonprofit called Franklin & Lee. Adam McLain, the GOP operative who started Patriots for America, said he was 'not at liberty to discuss' who had started the nonprofit - which, unlike a super PAC, isn't required to disclose its contributors. But a document obtained by POLITICO shows that McLain himself started Franklin & Lee just three weeks before the nonprofit started writing checks to McLain's super PAC. Campaign finance lawyers believe the setup, an apparent attempt to conceal Patriots for America's funders, could land the super PAC in legal
 trouble." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=f0b9438755fc28cffe538b4f9434bc4d7a99326afb86e1a59270b39d83291bea

CASH RACE - Holding outraises Ellmers 10 to 1 ahead of member-vs-member primary: North Carolina Rep. George Holding outraised fellow GOP Rep. Renee Ellmers by a 10 to 1 margin ahead of their June 7 primary. Holding raised $294,000 between April 1 and May 18, while Ellmers raised just under $27,000, according to their pre-primary FEC reports. Holding had about $177,000 in cash on hand to Ellmers' $32,000 in the bank on May 18. Greg Brannon, a two-time Senate primary candidate, brought in $82,000 and had $12,000 in the bank.

Days until the California, Iowa, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico and South Dakota primaries, North Dakota's Democratic presidential primary and North Carolina's House primary: 11. 

Days until the 2016 election: 165.

Thanks for joining us. You can email tips to the whole Campaign Pro team at [email-masked], [email-masked], [email-masked], [email-masked], and [email-masked].

You can also follow us on Twitter, where we tweet a lot about campaigns and occasionally about leaving early to drink: @politicoscott, @ec_schneider, @politicokevin, @theodoricmeyer and @maggieseverns.

PROGRAMMING NOTE - Due to the Memorial Day holiday, Morning Score will not publish on Monday, May 30. Our next Morning Score newsletter will publish on May 31.

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CASH RACE, CONTINUED - Vernon dramatically outraises Murphy in IA-01: Monica Vernon, the former Cedar Rapids city councilwoman who's backed by EMILY's List, raised several times more money than her Democratic primary opponent, former state House Speaker Pat Murphy, ahead of the June 7 primary. Vernon raised about $112,000 between April 1 and May 18, giving her $421,000 in cash on hand, according to her pre-primary FEC report. Murphy raised about $36,000 in the same period and had $46,000 in cash on hand. GOP Rep. Rod Blum had not filed a pre-primary report yet late Thursday night.

- Sherzan writes himself another check ahead of IA-03 primary: Democrat Mike Sherzan loaned his campaign another $345,000 ahead of the primary in Iowa's 3rd District, according to his pre-primary FEC report. Sherzan spent heavily on mailers and TV ads, shelling out about $467,000 and leaving his campaign with $93,000 on May 18, the last day of the pre-primary. His Democratic rival Jim Mowrer spent almost as much, $458,000, and had $90,000 left on May 18 for the home stretch. A third Democrat, Desmund Adams, raised and spent little. GOP Rep. David Young, meanwhile, brought in about $121,000 and had more than $1 million in cash on hand.

- Bera sends money to feds in CA-07: Democratic Rep. Ami Bera still had far more cash on hand than his Republican opponent after sending nearly $269,000 to the federal government this month - money that Bera's father illegally directed to Bera's campaign as part of a straw donor scheme. Bera raised about $197,000 in the weeks before the June 7 primary, and his cash on hand fell slightly to $1.3 million. His Republican rival, Scott Jones, raised about $89,000, giving him about $233,000 in cash on hand ahead of the top-two primary.

- Honda outraises Khanna in CA-17: Ro Khanna has a big cash advantage over Democratic Rep. Mike Honda, whom he's challenging in the primary in this deep-blue Silicon Valley district, with $1.6 million in cash on hand to Honda's $766,000. But Honda managed to outraise Khanna in recent weeks, pulling in $175,000 between April 1 and May 18, to Khanna's $108,000. Both men are expected to make it through the top-two primary.

- Carbajal outspends rivals ahead of CA-24 primary: Democrat Salud Carbajal outspent three rivals ahead of the primary to fill retiring Democratic Rep. Lois Capps' seat, shelling out $543,000 between April 1 and May 18, according to his FEC report. Most of the moneytoward TV ads. He had $649,000 left in cash on hand. Republican Justin Fareed spent $354,000 and had $448,000 left for the home stretch, while Republican Katcho Achadjian spent $348,000 and had $173,000 left. The fourth major candidate competing in the top-two primary, Democrat Helen Schneider, raised $189,000 and had $106,000 left. More pre-primary reports here: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b5024c96d53729a512a8bad04b4f2fcdddee0a0f9c9acf34a1d9cccd5626d645

SUPER-CANOVA - Wasserman Schultz challenger says he's "closing in on $2 million" raised: Tim Canova, the Bernie Sanders-endorsed Democrat opposing DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz in her Florida primary, told Fernand Amandi's radio show that he is fast becoming one of the best-funded incumbent primary challengers ever. "We raised about $1 million in the first four months," Canova said on the show. "By the time Bernie endorsed us, we were probably up at about $1.2, $1.3 million. Since then we got a big kick of several hundred thousand, and that puts us closing in on $2 million now." Listen to the interview here: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b5024c96d53729a5336e3f13c1b712444fdfc9bb6bff68df1208e6236ff745e9

NOT RULING IT OUT - "Rubio: 'Unlikely' I'll run for reelection," by POLITICO's Burgess Everett: "National Republicans are growing increasingly worried about their chances in Florida's open Senate race. And Marco Rubio is leaving the door open, if only a millimeter, to the possibility of reversing his planned departure from the chamber and running for reelection. The Florida senator on Thursday called it "unlikely" he would jump into the race, even as fellow Republicans began openly urging him to do so. A chaotic, five-way Republican primary has stoked worries that Rubio's seat will flip to Democrats. ... On the Senate floor Thursday afternoon, Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.)
 joined a number of Republicans calling on Rubio to reconsider his plans, saying he "strongly encouraged" the senator to seek reelection." The filing deadline in June 24. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b5024c96d53729a55c87c79a3bb1f5733aae542fbb7051266e451e30070ff340

- The latest Republican to encourage Rubio to run: Donald Trump. "Poll data shows that @marcorubio does by far the best in holding onto his Senate seat in Florida," Trump tweeted on Thursday night. "Important to keep the MAJORITY. Run Marco!"

AIR WAR - Outside groups spend big on TV in open NC-13: Two outside groups are making big new TV buys in North Carolina's 13th District, where 17 candidates are vying for an open, safely Republican seat. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b5024c96d53729a5367a778843695f18a9b62146f5f27f1b0f032cd09e5799f8

- Freedom Partners, Toomey attack McGinty in new ads: Both GOP Sen. Pat Toomey's campaign and the Koch-backed Freedom Partners Action Fund super PAC released new ads attacking Pennsylvania Democrat Katie McGinty on ethics. The Freedom Partners ad is part of a $3 million digital and TV buy in the state. It features a narrator alleging McGinty steered "millions of taxpayer dollars to companies that promised to hire us." Instead, the ad insists, they were layoffs at factories that received the subsidies. "But McGinty got hired," the narrator says. "She walked away with a board position and a six-figure salary. So whose job does she care about more? Yours or hers?" The Toomey campaign's ad
 alleges "McGinty funneled millions of tax dollars to a group that employed her husband." Watch the Freedom Partners ad: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7e2cb064afee9a41d90fd9add549b765e8ac4867ba2817ed8892f0461f8a25fd Watch the Toomey campaign's ad: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7e2cb064afee9a419c84a82e06ec52d908204d5ecba9631d5973a239b2cabbf9

PRESIDENTIAL SPEED READ - "Clinton scrambles to salvage California," by POLITICO's Annie Karni: "Hillary Clinton is expected to clinch the Democratic nomination on the night of June 7, after the polls close in New Jersey. But her campaign is girding for what could be an anticlimactic and potentially embarrassing finish, after the fact - Clinton could lose California, where the polls close three hours later, after she has already won the nomination." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=febce6ba6ac0764eb98fa93adf0693afd5028a43c8a4f9632f3db3c5bd821c92

- "Clinton thinks she knows how to take on Trump. Will it work?" by The Washington Post's Philip Rucker: Hillary "Clinton's aides say they have settled on the big story they want to tell about Trump: He is a business fraud who has cheated working people for his own gain, and his ideas, temperament and moves to marginalize people by race, gender and creed make him simply unacceptable as commander in chief." But questions remain. "Which of Trump's actions warrant a response from Clinton herself vs. campaign staffers or outside allies or nothing at all? How does Clinton compete with Trump's saturation-level media coverage? And, perhaps most importantly, how do they keep Trump from becoming
 normalized - that is, to ensure voters react to his antics with horror rather than a shrug or a laugh?" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=febce6ba6ac0764eefe031a12c2bf547022de4c7936c0695a005417fe7964c4f

- "Democratic insiders give low marks to Wasserman Schultz," by POLITICO's Steven Shepard: The Democratic insiders who are part of the POLITICO Caucus don't give Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz high marks. "She is the worst caricature imaginable of an out-of-touch Democratic insider who fundamentally has no faith in the principles of the party and holds the base in contempt," one Iowa Democrat said. But 61 percent of say she should stay on through the November election. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=febce6ba6ac0764e6271191e40f9dbece1cd64018a36f21192e80ba09127a279

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I guess I'm a bit of a riverboat gambler." - Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, on why he decided to remain chairman instead quitting while he was ahead, after Republicans retook the Senate in 2014. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=febce6ba6ac0764e68f7053fa4e8e9b439e93de99c17280d00b23ddef1da60a8

** A message from Sinclair Broadcast Group: News, opinions, and entertainment surround us 24/7, yet a fundamental truth remains, whether for competitive races or impactful ballot measures, the TV commercial reigns as the medium for reaching potential voters. TV helps strongly at the margins. Television is also the easiest way to reach undecided voters. Those passive folks who don't show up at the rallies or ask for email updates, but will be there to pull the levers on Election Day. At the Sinclair Broadcast Group, one of the largest and most diversified television broadcasting companies in the country, we combine TV with targetable digital (mobile, video, email, social media and native) ad
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