The Daily Kos Elections Morning Digest is compiled by David Nir, Jeff Singer, Stephen Wolf, and Carolyn Fiddler, with additional contributions from David Jarman, Steve Singiser, Daniel Donner, James Lambert, David Beard, and Arjun Jaikumar.
Leading Off
●OH-14: Here's something you don't see everyday: Despite holding down a 54-42 Trump district, GOP Rep. David Joyce is airing a TV ad where he touts how he stood up to Trump when the latter tried to take away funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and how he bucked congressional leadership when they tried to take away healthcare protections for patients with pre-existing conditions, although he doesn't acknowledge this was a vote against repealing Obamacare.
Normally, we would expect to only see Republicans in much bluer seats running away from Trump, like Minnesota GOP Rep. Erik Paulsen did in his first ad last month in a suburban Minneapolis district that went 51-41 for Clinton. Joyce faces Democrat Betsy Rader in a contest we rate as Likely Republican, but this district only voted 51-48 Romney six years ago, and Joyce's ad is a sign Trump could be a drag even in red-leaning seats like this one.