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DETROIT Andy Thorburn, a health insurance executive who is plugging $2 million into a bid to replace Rep. Edward R. Royce (R-Calif.), is the latest Democrat pushing the party to embrace single-payer health care even in swing districts. In a video announcement, Thorburn paints thecontest as a referendum on health care, between a Republican who voted for the repeal of the Affordable Care Act and a Democrat who wants to move, eventually, to Medicare for all.

First-time Democratic candidate Andy Thorburn released an ad embracing single-payer health care, in his campaign to replace Rep. Edward R. Royce (R-Calif.). (Andy Thorburn)

In an interview, Thorburn presented himself as a candidate who could debate health care from a position of total awareness. He ran Global Benefits Group, an international insurance company, until stepping back to the board this year.

The part that really bothered me, when Obama first presented his plan,was my friends and colleaguesstarting their arguments by saying: Hey, we have the best medical system in the world. Why change it? I was like, Look, I cant have a serious discussionwith you if you think that. Its the best system if youre rich. But its clearly not the best for everyone. Yeah, the shah of Iran came here for treatment once thats not the standard!

Progressives, who are stepping up their campaigns to promote single-payer legislation and baiting Republicans into attack ads have struggled with California. The states Democratic-run legislature had passed single-payer legislation during the term of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), knowing it would be vetoed; a new single-payer bill was bottled up by legislators, kicking off months of intraparty infighting.

Thorburn suggested that the Democrats national single-payer debate could start on different terms.

Im aware of the debate, Thorburn said. Look, the tax burden has to go up, but all youre doing is shifting from one pocket to another. And the end of the day, were paying less money for health care, because thats been the experience of every country that went to this system.

Asked about the effect that universal Medicare would have on the private insurance system, Thorburn acknowledged that it would hurt.

Move as quickly as you can, he said. It would have a negative impact on my business, but it would be relatively small. Almost all the countries that have universal insurance also have competitive supplemental insurance industries. Germany has Allianz, one of the biggest insurers in the world.

On Tuesday night in Detroit, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) were holding a town hall meeting to promote specific single-payer legislation in Congress Conyerss HR 676, and Sanderss tbd bill. Thorburn said he would study the bills, suggesting he could cut his own path without undermining anything Democrats were doing.

Im not one of those people who thinks [Nancy] Pelosis terrible, he said, referring to the House minority leader, but Im too much of a novice to think I know who should be speaker.

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In a swing district, a Democrat runs on (eventual) single-payer health care - Washington Post

A top Democrat on Tuesday stepped up criticism of the Trump administration's review of 27 national monuments by releasing a report charging that the process is being guided by the oil and coal industries instead of public interest.

House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raul Grijalva of Arizona released the report, "Fossil Apostles: Fossil Fuels, the GOP, and the Fate of Our National Monuments," which details the "strong influence" of industry over the monument review process that is slated to wrap up this week. The process could result in recommendations to take the "national monument" designation away from some sites around the country.

The report attempts to show how the review process is unpopular among the public that it purports to give a voice to, and argued the process should be scrapped.

"The public has spoken and these monuments should be left alone," Grijalva said upon releasing the report. "If President Trump and Secretary [of the Interior Ryan] Zinke don't listen, then the courts and the voters will teach them that our public lands are not industry playthings to dispose of as they see fit."

"This administration cries about the importance of history when it comes to Confederate statues and then throws Teddy Roosevelt's legacy out the window as a favor to Big Oil," he added.

President Trump signed an executive order this year directing Zinke to begin a review of monuments that had been modified over the past 20 years by prior presidential directives.

The review included the Bears Ears monument in Utah that former President Barack Obama significantly expanded. Zinke and the administration have argued that the review is necessary to ensure that no group was left out in the decision-making process to expand the monuments.

In many cases, the expanded monuments have come with expanded restrictions on certain activities, such as extraction of fossil fuels and other mineral resources.

"This report demonstrates that the justification provided for the review a desire for robust public input is a diversion meant to obscure the review's true aim: the development by private companies of fossil fuel resources currently off-limits due to monument designations," according to the executive summary of Grijalva's report.

The report documented "extensive Republican efforts to undermine or eliminate public review of federal land management decisions, in direct contravention of the monument review's stated goal," the summary added. "The report goes on to show the enormous influence the fossil fuel industry has over the Trump administration and their congressional allies, as well as the expansive benefits already provided to that industry this year. Finally, the report describes the relatively small amount of fossil fuel resources placed off-limits by the monument designations under review."

The report pointed out that public polling shows a lack of overall support for weakening the monument designations. Across seven western states, public polling has shown that the "greatest support for weakening national monument protections is in Utah, where 60 percent oppose the idea and 30 percent support it," according to Grijalva's office.

The report argued that in addition to being unpopular, weakening the monument designations does not make much economic sense.

"Oil and coal companies are already awash in access to public land," the report reads. "According to a detailed review of Resource Management Plans, the oil and gas industry already has access to 90 percent of the public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management, the federal agency that manages the most federal land."

"In fact, oil companies are not bothering to produce oil and gas on the public land they have already leased," it continued. "Fifty-three percent of public land acreage that has been leased to oil and gas companies across the U.S. is not in production as of fiscal year 2016. In Utah, that number is 61 percent. In addition, oil and gas companies are hoarding nearly 8,000 approved drilling permits that they are not using."

Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rob Bishop, R-Utah, which the report criticized for supporting the review, is holding a press call on Thursday to discuss the monument review as it comes to an end. He has been supportive of rolling back the monument designation at Bears Ears and others.

Meanwhile, billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer is pouring money into a campaign meant to malign members of Congress for being "anti-public lands," the pro-market Western Wire reported.

It noted that the League of Conservation Voters began calling on the public to put pressure on "anti-parks politicians," and said the future of several national monuments would be determined by Zinke's review.

"With the futures of Organ-Mountains Desert Peaks National Monument and Rio Grande del Norte National Monument on the line, the League of Conservation Voters is investing $100,000 in a final push to urge Congressman Steve Pearce and other members of Congress to stop attacking our public lands and to ensure the Trump administration hears the overwhelming outpouring of support for our national monuments ahead of the August 24th deadline for its unprecedented monument review,'" the group wrote in a press release targeting Pearce, a Republican from New Mexico.

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Democrat: Trump wants to turn national monuments into 'industry playthings' - Washington Examiner

New anti-Trump activists try not to be tea-party insurgents Belleville News-Democrat Instead, they wanted to know what they could do to help Democratic candidates win the House of Delegates in Virginia through a series of races that political analysts see as an important dress rehearsal for the 2018 congressional election. One by one ... and more »

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New anti-Trump activists try not to be tea-party insurgents - Belleville News-Democrat

Here's a story that's been flying under the radar at the national news level. New Jersey's Democrat Senator Bob Menendez is about to go on trial for corruption. The jury selection started today and press was not allowed access to the process. The Senator was indicted two years ago and ethics experts say it is extremely rare for a sitting congressman or senator to be indicted on the charges Menendez currently faces. From the New York Times:

Mr. Menendez stands accused of using his position to advance the interests of Dr. Salomon Melgen, a friend and political patron, in exchange for luxury vacations and hundreds of thousands of dollars of campaign support.

Even a bribery conviction would not automatically force Mr. Menendez from office, under the Senate rules. He would either have to voluntarily resign his seat, or two-thirds of his Senate colleagues meaning 15 Democrats would have to vote to expel him. Democrats largely have met Mr. Menendezs upcoming trial with silence, happy to let the daily torrent of Trump administration news overshadow it, refusing to speculate about the senators future even as some, most notably Mr. Torricelli, have begun to position themselves should Mr. Menendez step aside or be convicted. But as the trial nears, Mr. Menendezs uncertain fate has been the subject of growing consternation and conjecture, from the courthouse in Newark to the corridors of the United States Capitol, especially after Dr. Melgen, an ophthalmologist, was convicted this spring in a separate case of defrauding Medicare of nearly $100 million. The jury found Dr. Melgen, 63, guilty of all 67 counts. He faces spending much of the rest of his life in prison, which could add pressure to cooperate with prosecutors, although there is no evidence that has happened.

The big issue hanging in the balance that could change everything? A vote on Obamacare. With Menendez out of the picture, Republicans could pass repeal and replace with a GOP successor.

When Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey goes on trial on federal corruption charges in three weeks, far more than his own fate hinges on the outcome.

If Mr. Menendez, a Democrat, is convicted and then expelled from the United States Senate by early January, his replacement would be picked by Gov. Chris Christie, the Republican governor of New Jersey and an ally of President Trump.

That scenario where Mr. Menendezs interim replacement would more than likely be a Republican would have immediate and far-reaching implications: The Republicans would be gifted a crucial extra vote just as the party remains a single senator shy of repealing President Obamas signature health care law. Those potential consequences only heighten the drama around the first federal bribery charges leveled against a sitting senator in a generation.

Democrats have a choice to make if Menendez is convicted: back a felon for the sake of saving Obamacare, or face Obamacare repeal and replacement with a vote from his Republican successor. I have a feeling they'll be choosing the former. Menendez is unlikely to resign voluntarily, but that won't matter if he's headed off to federal prison to serve time.

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If Democrat Senator Bob Menendez is Convicted For Corruption, Everything Could Change With Obamacare Repeal - Townhall

The lone Democratic candidate for state House District 44 in west Orange County has withdrawn from the race, contending he was forced out by the party.

Orange County Democratic Chair Wes Hodge said Paul Chandler shouldnt have voted in Missouri in 2016 had he wanted to run.

Thats the subject of a lawsuit seeking to disqualify him that was filed in Leon County Circuit Court in Tallahassee, which claimed Chandler didnt meet Floridas residency requirement and had an active voter registration in Missouri. The suit alleges he voted in elections as recently as last November.

I personally counseled him on what it took to run I think his campaign reports speak for themselves, Hodge said of the candidate who self-funded 80 percent of his campaign. We would not be in this situation had he not voted in Missouri in 2016.

Chandler, who owns Ohana Healthcare, said his first political bid was like a bad episode of House of Cards and blamed it on the disorganization of the Orange County Democrats.

I understand why the Democrats lose now, he said. They dont even put up a fight.

Hodge said Chandler stepped aside Tuesday after the party met with several attorneys who told them there wasnt a clear precedent for a ruling on the suit.

As word of Chandlers withdrawal from the race surfaced, Hodge said potential candidates have come forward and the party expects to meet with them soon.

Chandler said he hadnt formally filed resignation papers with the state and wouldnt say when he would.

Orange County Supervisor of Elections Bill Cowles said ballots for the Oct. 10 general election had not yet been printed, so a replacement candidates name could appear on them if one is named soon.

Whoever is on the ballot will face former Winter Garden Commissioner Bobby Olszewski, who narrowly won a four-way GOP primary last week.

Nothing changes for us, regardless of whats happening with other candidates, he said, adding that he plans to continue campaigning through the general election, which is slated for Oct. 10.

Chandler was the only Democrat to enter the special election to succeed former state Rep. Eric Eisnaugle, who was appointed to a judgeship earlier this year.

Florida House Victory, the state Democratic House committee, said its working with the local party to nominate a qualified replacement candidate within 5 days per state law.

However, another section of the statute says a new candidate cannot be named if a court finds the nominee did not properly qualify or meet the necessary qualifications to hold the office for which he or she sought to qualify.

It was unclear if the lawsuit would move forward, and there was no response to calls to Charles Hart, the attorney who filed it.

Staff writer Steven Lemongello contributed to this report.

Have a news tip? You can call Ryan at 407-420-5002, email him at rygillespie@orlandosentinel.com, follow him on Twitter @byryangillespie and like his coverage on Facebook @byryangillespie.

Lawsuit seeks to disqualify Democrat candidate in House race

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Democrat Paul Chandler withdraws from state House race - Orlando Sentinel