| | | | | |  | | By Zach Montellaro | Editor's Note: Weekly Score is a weekly version of POLITICO Pro's daily Campaigns policy newsletter, Morning Score. POLITICO Pro is a policy intelligence platform that combines the news you need with tools you can use to take action on the day's biggest stories. Act on the news with POLITICO Pro.
| | | — It isn't just New York: Here are five mayoral races to watch across the country throughout this year. — The Democratic nominee in the special election in NM-01 is out with an early, negative TV ad against her GOP opponent, an early sign that the race could be more competitive than it appears at first blush. — The first-quarter fundraising filing deadline has come and gone. And if there's one takeaway, it is that both parties will have the money to make the 2022 midterms incredibly expensive. Good Monday morning. Email me at zmontellaro@politico.com, and follow me on Twitter at @ZachMontellaro. Email the rest of the POLITICO Campaigns team at sshepard@politico.com, jarkin@politico.com and amutnick@politico.com. Follow them on Twitter: @POLITICO_Steve, @JamesArkin and @allymutnick. Days until the LA-02 special election runoff: 5 Days until the TX-06 special election: 12 Days until the NM-01 special election: 43 Days until the New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial elections and OH-11 special election: 197 Days until the 2022 midterm elections: 568 Days until the 2024 election: 1,296
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| | | KEYS TO THE CITY — I'll admit to a bit of a New York centric-bias in the mayoral races I've highlighted in Score: It is the nation's largest (and finest) city, and I grew up in its burbs. But New York City is far from the only city holding a mayoral election this year. Here's five more mayoral races to watch this year, outside of New York. — San Antonio: Texas municipal elections are fast approaching, with voting on May 1. In San Antonio, the state's second largest city, incumbent Mayor Ron Nirenberg is facing a 14-person field. Nirenberg, a progressive running in the nonpartisan race, is looking for a third term, with his top opponent likely being Greg Brockhouse, a conservative former city councilmember whom Nirenberg narrowly defeated in a 2019 runoff. A late March Bexar Facts/KSAT/San Antonio Report poll of voters in the city had Nirenberg looking on track for reelection, and he also took home the endorsement of the San Antonio Express-News' editorial board. If no candidate gets a majority, there will be a runoff on June 5. The Express-News' Joshua Fechter recently profiled Nirenberg, while E-N's Bruce Selcraig wrote on Brockhouse. — Fort Worth: Voters will pick a new mayor in Fort Worth, Texas' fifth largest city, after incumbent mayor Betsy Price announced she wouldn't run. Fort Worth is the largest city that currently has a Republican mayor with an election this year (it is technically a nonpartisan position), with 10 candidates running to succeed Price. Five candidates are considering at the top of the heap, Spectrum News' Eric Griffey wrote: City council members Brian Byrd and Ann Zadeh; Mattie Parker, a former Price aide; Deborah Peoples, the chair of the Tarrant County Democratic Party and runner-up to Price in 2019; and Steve Penate, a pastor. The outgoing Price endorsed Parker, as did the Fort Worth Star-Telegram editorial board, but the Star-Telegram's Brian Lopez wrote that "local political experts" said the race is hard to predict "because of the ever growing and diversifying Fort Worth population." Like San Antonio, there will be a runoff if no candidate secures a majority next week. | 
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms is up for reelection this year, and could face a tough challenge despite support from the White House. | Democratic National Convention via AP | — Atlanta: Democratic Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms is up for reelection (this is also technically a nonpartisan position) and is already facing a challenge from Felicia Moore, the president of the city council. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's J.D. Capelouto and Ben Brasch wrote back in January how the race will likely "dominate politics" in the coming months — and that was before rumors of a comeback bid from former Mayor Kasim Reed began to swirl in earnest. Atlanta City Council member Antonio Brown is also considering a run. Bottoms has one very prominent Democrat in her corner: President Joe Biden. Biden hosted a fundraiser for his former campaign trail surrogate in March, per The AJC's Greg Bluestein . The election is on Nov. 2, with a runoff after that (if necessary). Despite Bottoms' national profile, she won the 2017 election in a nail-biter of a runoff against Mary Norwood. — Cleveland: Longtime Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson, a Democrat, has not yet announced if he'll run for reelection. But City Council President Kevin Kelley announced that he was running earlier in April, and The Cleveland Plain Dealer's Seth Richardson wrote that "Kelley's entrance along with Jackson's lack of fundraising is the clearest sign yet that the longest serving mayor of Cleveland is on his way out." Former city councilmember Zack Reed, who lost to Jackson in 2017, has also announced a bid. And interestingly: Former Cleveland Mayor Dennis Kucinich (and, oh yeah, former congressman and presidential candidate) filed paperwork to run in December, per WKYC's Mark Naymik . All candidates will run in a September primary, with the top two advancing to a November general election. — Boston: Turning this one over to POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook author Stephanie Murray: Six major candidates are vying to be the next mayor of Boston. Acting Mayor Kim Janey became the first woman and Black Bostonian to lead the city when former mayor and Labor Secretary Marty Walsh took the helm at the Department of Labor earlier this year. Also running are three city councilors, a state lawmaker and Boston's former economic development chief, all Democrats. There are no white men running for mayor in a city that has been led by white men for its entire two-century history. The nonpartisan race has been somewhat sleepy as Walsh transitioned out of office. But now that Janey has launched her campaign for a full term, the city's annual budget process is underway, and a pair of scandals inside the Boston Police Department have generated attention in the press, the race has kicked into gear. — Seattle: Mayor Jenny Durkan announced in December she wouldn't seek a second term, setting off a scramble. Candidates include City Council President Lorena González, who recently picked up an endorsement from Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), former Seattle City Council President Bruce Harrell and Seattle Club Executive Director Colleen Echohawk. There's a primary in August, with the top two candidates facing off in November. | | | JUST SPECIAL — New Mexico state Rep. Melanie Stansbury, Democrats' nominee in the NM-01 special election, is up with a new TV ad attacking Republican state Sen. Mark Moores. The ad says Moores "opposed every measure to help people during the pandemic," saying he even opposed "President Biden's American Rescue Plan." The attack ad itself is a fairly conventional one, but it is notable that the Democratic nominee is going negative in the special election in a district that is still fairly blue (its newly updated PVI is D+9). The messaging on the American Rescue Plan could also be a preview of the midterms. — Club for Growth Action is going into the TX-06 special election with a six-figure TV buy attacking Republican John Ellzey ahead of the all-candidate primary on May 1. We have not seen creative yet, but a filing with the FEC lists the buy at $110,000. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, has the responsibility to set the date for the special election to replace the late Rep. Alcee Hastings in his deep blue South Florida House seat. A handful of Democratic House members from Florida are demanding that DeSantis quickly set a special election date, mindful of House Democrats' small majority, the South Florida Sun Sentinel's Anthony Man reported. But Sun Sentinel columnist Steve Bousquet reports that Broward County supervisor of elections Joe Scott (also a Democrat), met with Secretary of State Laurel Lee to recommend that the primary in FL-20 be held on Nov. 2, with a general election on Jan. 11, to not put a burden on local school systems. (The Florida secretary of state is an appointee of the governor.) THE CASH DASH — The entire POLITICO Campaigns team has had time to digest last week's quarterly filing deadline. For our dear Pro subscribers, we have full fundraising charts for both the House and Senate candidates. But POLITICO Campaigns' James Arkin and Ally Mutnick have topline takeaways for everyone to read: "Democrats' narrow majorities are in peril in next year's midterms, and their most vulnerable members are seeing a major cash infusion early in the fight to keep Congress in their control. … But this isn't the 2020 cycle. Armed with WinRed and an energized small-dollar donor base, House Republicans have narrowed their financial gap." Click through for some retirement and redistricting tea leaves, and check out my story with Theo Meyer and Allan James Vestal on the fundraising of the House Republicans who voted to overturn the election results, if you missed it on Friday. — Members of Congress have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on security from their campaign accounts, POLITICO's Sarah Ferris and Daniel Payne reported, as Congress mulls allowing a wider use of official funds for security. RECALL TIME — California Republicans are hoping that the recall of Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, could offer the party a future, regardless of how the runoff eventually goes. POLITICO California's Jeremy B. White : "They believe the recall election lends a platform to make their case both to would-be voters and prospective donors who had written off California as a lost cause. The intense national attention on the race gives Republicans a high-visibility pulpit to present their vision in what will be the most prominent election in the U.S. this year." — Could the recall of Newsom offer a path back into politics for former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (also a Democrat)? The Los Angeles Times' Dakota Smith: "Some political analysts argue that a well-known Democrat should appear on the ballot to blunt the chances of a Republican or fringe candidate winning. Others, including state Democratic leaders, urge a united front and are discouraging Democrats from running. Villaraigosa, who declined to be interviewed, has criticized the recall. But he's not publicly ruled out a run, prompting speculation about his plans." LEADING THE PARTY — NRSC Chair Rick Scott (R-Fla.), who objected to the election results, has quieted early predictions that he would struggle to raise money for the committee after his vote. But, The Washington Post's Mike DeBonis wrote, "there are still open concerns about how Scott's interests as the leader of the party campaign committee and his interests as a potential presidential candidate might diverge," citing the NRSC's neutrality in open races. Click through for an anecdote for how the committee endorsed Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), one of former President Donald Trump's top targets. — Freshman Rep. Nikema Williams (D-Ga.) will remain the state Democratic Party chair through at least 2022, The AJC's Tia Mitchell reported. | | | | SUBSCRIBE TO "THE RECAST" TO JOIN AN IMPORTANT CONVERSATION : Power dynamics are changing in Washington and across the country. More people are demanding a seat at the table, insisting that all politics is personal and not all policy is equitable. Our twice-weekly newsletter "The Recast" breaks down how race and identity shape politics and policy in America, and we are recasting how we report on it. Get fresh insights, scoops and dispatches on this crucial intersection from across the country and hear critical new voices that challenge business as usual. Don't miss out, SUBSCRIBE . Thank you to our sponsor, Intel. | | | | | THE GOVERNATORS — Both the mega MAGA and move-on wings of the Republican Party are well represented in Nebraska, which has largely avoided the intraparty fighting that other Republican parties have faced. But that could change with the 2022 gubernatorial race. POLITICO's David Siders : "The question in Nebraska — as it is in other heavily Republican swaths of the country — isn't if a Republican must be supportive of Trump to win an open statewide office. They almost certainly must be. It's whether just supporting Trump is good enough — or if, in the reddest of states in the new GOP, only the Trumpiest candidate can win." — Georgia Republican Vernon Jones, a former Democratic state representative who switched parties to become an ardent supporter of Trump who spread his election conspiracy theories, announced that he would primary Gov. Brian Kemp, per The AJC's Bluestein. If Jones was to be successful, he'll have to overcome both traditional Democratic stances he held, and sexual assault and corruption allegations he denies. — Sandoval County, N.M., Commissioner Jay Block, a Republican, launched a bid to challenge Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham over the weekend, per the Albuquerque Journal's Dan McKay. Block, an Air Force veteran, is the first Republican to get into the race. THE SENATE MAP — Lara Trump, the ex-president's daughter in law, still hasn't made up her mind on if she'll run for the Senate in North Carolina. But the Republican primary field is done waiting for her, James reported. Former Rep. Mark Walker is already in, but his first-quarter haul is unlikely to scare off any other candidates. Rep. Ted Budd and Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson are both seriously considering running, and the Club for Growth promised to go big for Budd should he get in the race. — Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo.) is holding a fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago later this month as he mulls a Senate run, with several high profile Republicans on the host committee, per the Missouri Independent's Jason Hancock. — Biden announced his intent to nominate former Rep. Gwen Graham (D-Fla.) to be an assistant secretary in the Education Department, presumably removing her from any statewide races in Florida in 2022. WAY DOWN BALLOT — Are reverse coattails a thing? A new report from Run for Something, a liberal group that recruits candidates, that was shared with The New York Times' Isabella Grullón Paz argues that Biden benefited from Democrats fielding candidates even in deep red legislative districts. ALRIGHT ALRIGHT ALRIGHT — A poll from The Dallas Morning News/UT Tyler found something quite surprising: Matthew McConaughey leading GOP Gov. Greg Abbott in a theoretical head-to-head (1,126 registered voters; April 6-13; +/- 2.92 percentage point MoE). This should come with a boatload of caveats, including McConaughey's seriousness about running … and if he could actually win either party's primary. CODA — QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I'd rather set myself on fire than to run for office again." — Former House Speaker John Boehner on "Meet the Press". | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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