November 03, 2015 03:09 PM UTC

BREAKING: Ex-Rep. Larry Liston Primaries Rep. Janak Joshi

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• by: Colorado Pols

An interesting piece of scuttlebutt just brought to our attention out of Colorado Springs today: former Rep. Larry Liston, who gave up his House seat to unsuccessfully run against Owen Hill for Senate District 10 in 2012, hopes to mount a comeback bid with a primary challenge against his successor in HD-16, Rep. Janak “Dr. Nick” Joshi.

A Liston vs. Joshi primary would represent an interesting clash between two wings of the Springs-area Republican Party, with Liston presumably able to hold down “elite” Republicans and Joshi retaining his popularity among the “Tea Party” grassroots. Joshi’s checkered past as a doctor who lost his license to practice medicine hasn’t hurt him up to now, but that could change if Liston chose to make an issue of it. On the other side, Liston’s occasional bouts of verbal diarrhea, like infamously calling unmarried parents “sluts” on the floor of the Colorado House, are enough to give long-term strategic types pause as well.

At this point it’s tough to predict the outcome, but this could be one of the more lively red-on-red primaries of 2016.