Morning Digest: Why Democrats hope this Brett Favre-linked scandal will sink Mississippi's governor

_{The Morning Digest is compiled by David Nir, Jeff Singer, and Stephen Wolf, with additional contributions from the Daily Kos Elections team.}

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Leading Off

● MS-Gov: Mississippi Democrat Brandon Presley is using his first negative TV ad to tie Republican Gov. Tate Reeves to the $77 million welfare funds scandal involving retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre―a story that the public service commissioner is hoping will give him an opening in November's race to lead this dark red state.

"Under Tate Reeves, millions were steered from education and job programs to help his rich friends," intones the narrator. "A horse ranch, a volleyball stadium, even $1 million to his own personal trainer. And when the investigator got too close, Tate Reeves fired him." Presley, who faces no opposition in next week's primary, did not say how much he was spending to air this new message, though AdImpact tells NBC his campaign has booked at least $250,000 starting this week.