The Colorado Republican Party’s governing board plans to consider on Wednesday whether to censure Republican state Sen. Larry Liston after the Colorado Springs Republican pursued a criminal complaint against the husband of an El Paso County GOP officer.

A proposed censure resolution scheduled to be heard by the state Republicans’ executive committee contends that the 71-year-old Liston “willfully and maliciously engaged in the act of lawfare against a private citizen” by filing a police complaint against Rex Tonkins, whose wife, Vickie Tonkins, chairs the El Paso County Republican Party.

Liston filed the complaint over an incident at a contentious party meeting at a church in Colorado Springs on Dec. 6, 2021.

Rex Tonkins was acquitted last month on a misdemeanor harassment charge in Colorado Springs municipal court following a one-day jury trial, prompting local Republican Brad Collins, a member of the state GOP’s executive committee, to draft the censure resolution.

“Sen. Liston’s frivolous and false claim against the private citizen was rejected by the people,” the proposed censure resolution reads. “Some might say that justice was served by the acquittal but were it not for Liston’s abuse of his position, this citizen would not have been subjected to any of this in the first place.”

Liston told Colorado Politics that Rex Tonkins was acting aggressively at the meeting, approaching several elected officials in an intimidating manner and “chest-bumped” Liston after the lawmaker told the younger man to calm down. 

“Rex was harassing me,” Liston said. “I’m a big boy, but he was very aggressive that night. At the conclusion of the meeting, which was adjourned early – the meeting was out of control -I went over to get my jacket, and he came up to me, and he did a chest bump.”

Rex Tonkins denied he was acting aggressively.

Reached by phone on Tuesday, he told Colorado Politics he “had no comment at this time.”

Collins called Liston’s decision to file a complaint with law enforcement a “willful abuse of power by Sen. Liston to bring intentional financial and criminal harm to a private citizen for expressing concern over his substandard voting record,” adding that what Liston did “is not acceptable and will not be ignored.”

The resolution proposes censuring Liston “in the strongest terms,” including “withdraw[ing] all current and future support of him” and declaring the veteran state lawmaker “has rendered himself unfit for office.”

Liston said he doesn’t plan to rebut the charges or defend himself at the party meeting.

“It’s a done deal. I’m going to be censured,” Liston said. “The fix is in. Vickie and her crowd have never supported me at all. This is nothing new.”

The state Republican Party formally censured Vickie Tonkins last year for attacking the GOP nominees and volunteers who organized their own voter-turnout effort amid complaints the county party, under her leadership, wasn’t supporting some Republican nominees.

Liston, who served six nonconsecutive terms in the state House from 2005 to 2020, won election in 2020 to represent Senate District 10. He said he won’t be surprised if he faces a primary challenge next year when he seeks reelection.

“Surely, the party has better things to do than to go out and do a witch-hunt on elected officials,” he added.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect that Rex Tonkins denied he was acting aggressively at the Dec. 6, 2021, county GOP meeting.