Anonymous super PAC spending hits June 7 primaries Presented by the United States Postal Service

With Scott Bland, Theodoric Meyer, 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. (https://subscriber.politicopro.com/proinfo)


SPENDING ON THE SLY — "Late-spending super PACs avoid donor disclosure," by Campaign Pro's Theodoric Meyer: "A new super PAC is pouring more than half a million dollars into the California Senate race — but it won't have to reveal its full list of funders," which includes GOP megadonor Charles Munger, "until long after the primary. The super PAC, Californians for Fiscal Responsibility, has shelled out at least $544,000 since it was formed two weeks ago, supporting one Republican Senate candidate, Duf Sundheim, and attacking another, Tom Del Beccaro."

— "... Groups that wait to spend until about three weeks before a primary avoid [the pre-primary] disclosure requirement and don't have to file FEC reports until the next filing quarterly deadline, allowing last-minute donors to stay anonymous until weeks or months after the election. The American Foundations Committee, a super PAC backing GOP Rep. George Holding in his member-versus-member primary against GOP Rep. Renee Ellmers in North Carolina ... has spent at least $170,000 attacking Ellmers and supporting Holding in the past two weeks, starting just after the pre-primary FEC disclosure deadline." http://politico.pro/25y0I8x

COMING ATTRACTIONS — CA-24’s open race still wide open: Democratic Rep. Lois Capps announced her retirement from Congress over a year ago, but the race to replace her hasn’t gained much clarity since. Most expect Santa Barbara County Supervisor Salud Carbajal, a Democrat, and Republican Assemblyman Katcho Achadjian to advance to the general election, but prevailing presidential winds and outside spending could deliver a surprise for this Central Coast seat. Justin Fareed, a 27-year-old Republican rancher, is making a generational play (a la Marco Rubio), while Helene Schneider, mayor of Santa Barbara, is well-known in the city, but failed to coalesce national support. Democrats worry about getting shut out of the top two in the top-two primary. More here: http://politico.pro/1WwCzNL

OHIO AD BLITZ — Portman, Senate super PACs hit the airwaves: GOP Sen. Rob Portman's first TV ads of his reelection campaign start today and focus on his work fighting heroin and prescription drug abuse, a recurring theme among Republican incumbents this year. One ad features Portman talking about his work on bipartisan legislation to combat the heroin epidemic. ...A second ad features a parent who lost a son to heroin abuse. ... The third ad features a young girl who is a recovering heroin addict. http://politico.pro/1Ufmt4T

— Meanwhile, the pro-Portman Fighting for Ohio Fund super PAC is going back up today with another $1.5 million statewide TV buy covering two weeks, according to a media-tracking source. The group already spent almost $1.7 million on ads bashing Democrat Ted Strickland in May. (It had $2.8 million on hand at the end of the first quarter, two months ago.)

— And Senate Majority PAC is paying about $150,000 this week to air an ad attacking Portman on trade in Toledo, a market that hasn't been covered by a recent string of labor-funded ads. Senate Majority PAC is funding the same ad AFSCME first ran last week in Cleveland and Youngstown, while the American Federation of Teachers has been airing a different spot in Columbus.

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: 6. Days until the 2016 election: 159.

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STAFFING SHAKE UPS — “Taddeo loses campaign manager, communications director,” by POLITICO Florida’s Marc Caputo in Miami: “In a campaign shakeup, Democratic congressional candidate Annette Taddeo has parted ways with her campaign manager, finance director and communications director in recent weeks ... Campaign manager Shaun Daniels left two weeks ago along with finance director Foxhall Parker, and Taddeo’s communications director Francisco Bravo's last official day is today. Daniels has been replaced by James Stretch, former manager for Melissa Gilbert’s congressional campaign in Michigan. ... ‘It was a strategic decision to shake up the campaign and bring us some new energy to get us across the finish line,’ said an official with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.” http://politi.co/1PgzW0f

COURT, BYE — Judge dismisses lawsuit challenging Keyser’s campaign: A Denver district court judge dismissed a lawsuit led by three Colorado voters Tuesday that sought to toss former state Rep. Jon Keyser off the Colorado Republican Senate primary ballot. “The attorney representing them, Mark Grueskin, wouldn't say how the three plaintiffs came together, or who is funding the lawsuit,” KUSA reported. “Attorneys representing the Colorado Secretary of State and Keyser - who was not named as a defendant -argued the window for a challenge began when the Secretary of State issued a Statement of Insufficiency for Keyser in late April. Attorneys for both camps also argued that without steadfast deadlines, challenges to candidacies could continue beyond election day.” http://on9news.tv/1Pi2x5q

GIVE ME THAT POLL-TIME RELIGION — Internal poll: Yoder, Hollingsworth tied in IN-09: Republican Trey Hollingsworth and Democrat Shelli Yoder are tied in Indiana’s open 9th District, according to a new internal from Yoder's campaign. Yoder and Hollingsworth each draw 41 percent of likely voters, with another 18 percent undecided. Mitt Romney won the district with 57 percent of the vote in 2012. But the "polling data clearly show that Hollingsworth has been hobbled by attacks on his recent residency by fellow Republicans during the GOP primary,” pollsters Garin-Hart-Yang wrote in a memo. The poll was conducted last week and has a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.

— Hollingsworth’s father, who gave at least $500,000 to Indiana Jobs Now ahead of the primary, has kicked in another $400,000 to the pro-Hollingsworth super PAC, USA Today reports. http://usat.ly/1Wv2N3n

NEW HAMPSHIRE POLL — GOP Sen. Kelly Ayotte takes 48 percent to Democrat Maggie Hassan's 47 percent in the new Franklin Pierce/Boston Herald poll: http://bit.ly/1WXO1SK

McCONNELL STILL THIRSTY FOR RUBIO AS BERUFF RELEASES POLL: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is continuing his public pleading for Florida Sen. Marco Rubio to change his mind and run for reelection. “I and my colleagues have been trying to convince Senator Marco Rubio to run again in Florida,” McConnell said on Hugh Hewitt’s radio show while promoting his book, “The Long Game.” “He had indicated he was not going to, but we’re all hoping that he’ll reconsider, because poll data indicates that he is the one who can win for us.” (Emphasis ours.)

— Meanwhile, businessman Carlos Beruff’s campaign is trying to argue that Rubio would be no lock in a GOP primary, releasing an internal poll conducted by OnMessage showing him at the front of the Republican pack (with 17 percent of the vote). Rep. David Jolly had 16 percent, Rep. Ron DeSantis had 9 percent, businessman Todd Wilcox had 5 percent and Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera was at 3 percent. The accompanying polling memo appears to be squarely aimed at Rubio: “Clearly the results of the presidential primary just 2 ½ months ago were no fluke, as primary voters are demanding new leaders from outside of the political ranks,” pollster Wes Anderson wrote, adding later: “Carlos Beruff is exactly the type of businessman outsider candidate the voters want to support.” http://politi.co/1WvaYwy

UP ON THE AIRWAVES — New ads in California, negative spots in FL-23, NC-02: http://politico.pro/1WwCzNL

PRESIDENTIAL SPEED READ — “Corker: Fed probe won't hurt me with Trump,” by POLITICO’s John Bresnahan: “Sen. Bob Corker insists that the federal investigation into his personal finances won't hurt his chances of being tapped as Donald Trump's vice president — not that he's angling for the job, anyway. 'In some ways, you could look at what has happened over the course of the last year — if that was something that was gonna matter — you could almost look at it as a blessing,' Corker (R-Tenn.) said in an interview, referring to the FBI and SEC inquiries. 'From the standpoint of my finances, I will be the most vetted person here.'" http://politi.co/20S6heF

— “Clinton's polling quagmire,” by POLITICO’s Steven Shepard: “From Bernie Sanders' primary victories to the State Department inspector general's report on her email, the month of May hasn't been kind to Hillary Clinton — or her poll numbers. Her lead over Donald Trump has shrunk to the low single-digits. State polls tell a similar story: Clinton and Trump have run neck-and-neck in two separate polls in each of these four key electoral battlegrounds - New Hampshire, Virginia, Florida and Ohio. The two candidates even ran close in a New Jersey poll released Tuesday. Clinton's favorable ratings — currently 41 percent favorable and 55 percent unfavorable, according to HuffPost Pollster — are virtually unchanged over the past month.” http://politi.co/1TVUGJF

— “ Trump taunts media to its face,” by POLITICO’s Eli Stokols and Nolan D. McCaskill: “Donald Trump, whose entire campaign can seem like an experiment in free media, was simply trying to keep a low profile when he held an impromptu, televised fundraiser for veterans groups back in January in lieu of attending a GOP primary debate. At least that’s the story the presumptive Republican nominee was spinning to dozens of reporters gathered in the lobby of Trump Tower Tuesday morning — and to millions more watching the cable networks’ live blanket coverage of the entire 40-minute press conference — as he chastised the media for failing to give him his due, blasting one reporter as a ‘sleaze’ and another as ‘a real beauty.’” http://politi.co/1RJsJA7

— Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson, meanwhile, went on CNN and defended Trump’s donations to veterans charities as well-intended, even as journalists criticized him for missing his $6 million goal: “I mean, if the only thing he did was donate a million dollars to the cause, that's pretty good isn't it?,” Johnson said. “So, maybe, he didn't make the six million. I've certainly been involved in enough charities where sometimes it is a little difficult to collect the pledges. So, listen, you know, wonderful intention.”

CODA — QUOTE OF THE DAY: “I look forward to following what he has to say,” 2012 presidential candidate Mitt Romney tweeted after news broke that some are pushing David French, a conservative lawyer, to mount a third-party bid.

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