NORTH CAROLINA SHUFFLE — The two-week candidate-filing period kicks off today, but the game of musical chairs is already underway. POLITICO's Natalie Allison reports that Trump is orchestrating moves to try to break up the field in the Senate race for GOP Rep. Ted Budd, whom he has endorsed, to succeed retiring Republican Sen. Richard Burr . Natalie reports that Trump offered to endorse Walker, who did not run for reelection last year after a court-ordered redraw of the state's congressional lines put him in unfriendly territory, as long as Walker dropped out of the Senate race and ran for the House. To do that, Republican congressional candidate Bo Hines will switch districts to clear a spot for Walker, and is also expected to pick up Trump's endorsement. Read Natalie's story for the details on how this came together, which included a meeting with Trump. All this maneuvering will leave a clearer one-on-one primary matchup between Budd and former Gov. Pat McCrory. Burr has said that McCrory has the best chance to win a general election. — The 2022 calendar is set because a panel of three state judges declined to block the state's congressional and legislative map lines on Friday, The News & Observer's Brian Murphy reported. — Club for Growth, the anti-tax conservative organization, is planning a big buy for Budd in the new year. Our friends at AdImpact tracked a nearly $4.5 million buy from the group from Jan. 7 running through March 13. (This is likely just a quirk of the early buying: The primary is on March 8.) It brings their total spending to nearly $8.4 million. THE MAP LINES — The Washington state Supreme Court will not redraw the state's congressional (and legislative) lines and will leave the lines drawn by the state's commission in place, The Seattle Times' Jim Brunner reported, even though the commission's work on the lines carried on after the state's Nov. 15 deadline. — Illinois Democrats are spiking the football about the new congressional map, which further entrenches their dominance of the delegation — and forces freshman Rep. Mary Miller to run against either GOP Reps. Mike Bost or Rodney Davis, POLITICO's Ally Mutnick and Olivia Beavers reported. They're confident Miller will lose. Miller is perhaps best known for giving a speech early in her tenure in Congress where she said Adolf Hitler "was right on one thing. He said, 'Whoever has the youth has the future.'" (She later both apologized and attacked those who criticized her for saying it.) "I think Mike Bost is a decent human being. I think Rodney Davis is a decent human being. And I don't recall them ever speaking lovingly of Adolf Hitler," the retiring Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.) said about Miller. ALWAYS BE SELLING — Democrats who look at President Joe Biden's poll numbers see doom and gloom in the midterms. Can they reverse it? "Their proposed antidote: Finish the battles over legislating as quickly as possible, then spend their next few months talking up their infrastructure and coronavirus relief laws, as well as their forthcoming social spending bill," POLITICO's Heather Caygle, Burgess Everett and Jonathan Lemire write. HIGH COURT POLITICS — Last week's oral arguments on Mississippi's case trying to overturn Roe v. Wade kicked off a chorus of liberal groups saying Democrats running on defending abortion rights will reframe the midterms. But privately, some strategists don't think it will be the silver bullet for Democrats, POLITICO's David Siders reported, despite a majority of Americans fairly consistently saying abortion should be legal in at least some cases. FIRST IN SCORE — THE GOVERNATORS (CONTINUED) — John King, who was former President Barack Obama's education secretary, is out with his first statewide digital ad in the Maryland Democratic gubernatorial primary. The 60-second ad , which the campaign said is backed by a six-figure buy, opens talking about how his family was enslaved. "Today's gap in health, wealth and criminal justice are tied to the history of slavery, segregation and red lining," King says in the video, which also highlights his education background. — Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker's decision to not seek reelection has Republicans in the state "at each others' throats," with no clear heir apparent and what appears to be a clear shot for Democrats to retake the governor's mansion, POLITICO's Lisa Kashinsky wrote. — Alabama Republican Senate candidate Lynda Blanchard looks primed to make the jump to primary Gov, Kay Ivey this week, following CNN's reporting last week that she would do so. Our own Alex Isenstadt obtained an invite to a "special announcement" on Tuesday, with the paid-for at the bottom being from a gubernatorial campaign. (Another curiosity: Her gubernatorial campaign-in-waiting rebrands her as "Lindy" instead of "Lynda.") — Rhode Island state House Minority Leader Blake Filippi, a Republican, ruled out a gubernatorial run and said he would instead seek reelection. BACK AT IT — Rep. Chris Pappas (D-N.H.), who joined Congress after the 2018 wave year, announced that he would seek reelection even as state Republicans are expected to make his district much redder. WMUR's John DiStaso and Adam Sexton have more. — Vermont Lt. Gov. Molly Gray, a Democrat, filed to run for the state's at-large Senate seat late Sunday night. Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) is running to replace the retiring Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy. OLD DOMINION — Virginia Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin is weeks away from being sworn in as the first Republican governor of the commonwealth in over a decade. But it didn't come cheap. Post-election fundraising reports showed that he and former Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe combined to raise a "record-smashing" $136 million for the contest, The Washington Post's Laura Vozzella reported. The two split that total almost identically, but Youngkin kicked in $20 million of his own money to fuel his campaign. Vozzella also has more on the "hero's welcome" that Youngkin got at the Virginia GOP's retreat. — A panel of Virginia judges upheld a Republican flip in the state House of Delegates after a recount, which guarantees a narrow Republican majority in the chamber, the AP's Ben Finley reported. A recount in a second flipped seat is expected to proceed this week, but even if it was to change the results (which recounts do only in the rarest of circumstances), Republicans will still control the chamber. WHAT'S IN A NAME? — That's what the eagle-eared POLITICO Campaigns chief Steve Shepard asks about Pennsylvania Senate candidate Mehmet Oz's debut TV ads . Oz's "stand by your ad" disclaimer is not his full name, but him saying "I'm Dr. Oz, and I approve this message." The provisions in the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 are sufficiently vague enough to say that a candidate needs to only give a statement that "identifies" them and say they approve the ad, but traditionally candidates say their full name instead of a nickname or their last name. (But this certainly seems to be within at least the spirit of the law, given Oz's prominence through his eponymous TV show.) MONEY MOVES — Koch Industries (yes, that Koch Industries) bought Arizona Republican self-funder Jim Lamon's solar energy company as he runs for the Senate, Axios' Lachlan Markay reported. American for Prosperity Action, the main political arm of Stand Together (the preferred name of the Koch network of political groups) has not gotten involved in the Arizona Senate race yet. STAFFING UP — The Democratic Attorneys General Association announced a series of senior staffers for the cycle: Michelle Ortiz will be deputy executive director and chief of staff, Geoff Burgan will be comms director, Megan Hughes will be research director, Emily Rossi will be digital director and David Sanchez will be political director. — "34N22," the super PAC supporting Republican Hershal Walker's challenge to Sen. Raphael Warnock (R-Ga.), is staffed with veteran Republican hands, per The Washington Examiner's David Drucker: OnMessage's Guy Harrison for media strategy and Wes Anderson for polling, Katie Benke as chief fundraiser, Chris Homan as general consultant and Stephen Lawson advising on communications. | 
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