Former state Rep. Janak Joshi on Friday joined the field of Republicans hoping to challenge Democratic U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo in Colorado’s 8th Congressional District.

Vowing he’ll be “big government’s worst enemy,” the former physician, who represented Colorado Springs districts for three terms last decade in the legislature, said his unabashedly conservative track record makes him the best candidate to win the battleground seat, which could decide which party controls the U.S. House of Representatives after this year’s election.

“I’m the only candidate in this race with a proven conservative record to show that actions speak louder than mere words,” Joshi said in statement to Colorado Politics. “We already have too many say-anything politicians that voters can’t trust. To win this primary and general election, we need a citizen-focused, conservative leader who fights for everyday Americans and not the corrupt insiders who are ruining our country.”

Added Joshi: “Our precious rights as Americans come from God, not the federal government that is out-of-control with debt and spending and back-breaking laws and regulations that only rob citizens of their prosperity and freedom. Send me to Congress and I’ll be big-government’s worst enemy.”

An immigrant from India, Joshi said in a release that he arrived in the United States more than 50 years ago “with a suitcase, $100 and deep convictions to serve others first and uphold the rule of law.”

“Today, illegal immigration, condoned by radical Democrats and weak-kneed Republicans, is destroying our country and mortgaging the future of our kids and grandkids,” he said. “I will fight to finish the wall, crack down on sanctuary cities, and stop the flow of illegal immigrants pouring over our dangerously open borders.”

Joshi is the fourth Republican to launch a campaign in the nearly evenly divided district, which covers parts of Adams, Weld and Larimer counties north of the Denver metro area.

Caraveo, a pediatrician and former state lawmaker from Thornton, won election to the newly created seat in 2022 by fewer than 2,000 votes in one of the closest congressional races in the country that cycle.

The other GOP candidates in the 8th CD are Weld County Commissioner Scott James, a longtime radio host and former chairman of the Weld County GOP; first-term state Rep. Gabe Evans, R-Fort Lupton; and, Joe Andujo, a health insurance agent who lives in Fort Collins, just outside the district.

Joshi told Colorado Politics that he and his wife, Anju, moved from Colorado Springs to Thornton this week and now reside in the 8th CD.

“As a career physician and a conservative grassroots Republican leader, I have always put the well-being of others ahead of myself because I know that is what leadership should be all about,” Joshi said.

Joshi voluntarily surrendered his medical license in 2008, a year after the state suspended his license following an admission to “unprofessional conduct” in the care of a 76-year-old patient.

After serving three terms in the state House from 2011-2017, Joshi lost his bid for a fourth term by more than 20 percentage points in a contentious 2016 primary against fellow Republican Larry Liston, a former state lawmaker who was later elected to represent an El Paso County state Senate seat. Joshi also made unsuccessful runs for the Colorado Springs City Council in 2003 and 2017.