Democratic Leaders Respond to Commutation of Tina Peters’ Sentence

DENVER, CO – House and Senate Democratic Leadership today released the following statement after Governor Jared Polis commuted the sentence of Tina Peters:

“We strongly oppose Governor Polis’ decision to preempt the courts and commute the sentence of a still-unremorseful Tina Peters. Tina Peters sought to overturn the election results and committed a serious crime. She was prosecuted by a Republican district attorney in a conservative county and convicted by a jury of her peers. Her actions threatened our elections, and commuting her sentence sends exactly the wrong message at a time when the Trump Administration is threatening vote-by-mail and working to undermine our democracy. 

“House and Senate Democrats have repeatedly outlined the many serious reasons why Governor Polis should let the courts decide Ms. Peters’ sentence. We stand by these concerns and the voices of election officials across our state to once again express our strongest objection to this decision. The legislature has worked for years to strengthen and protect Colorado’s elections to ensure they are safe, secure, and accessible, and we staunchly support our dedicated county clerks and election officials who have increasingly come under threat to uphold that.” 

In March, every House and Senate Democrat signed a letter to Governor Polis opposing a commutation or pardon of Tina Peters. Below is the full text of the letter:

Governor Polis:

We thank you for your service to our state and the dedication with which you serve the people of Colorado. 

We write today to urge you not to grant clemency, sentence commutation, any other sentence reduction, or a federal transfer to Tina Peters. 

While we acknowledge you have concerns with what the Colorado Appellate Court found in the processes of Ms. Peters’ case and the questions that the court continues to assess, the resolution to those issues should be handled by the judicial branch. It is our understanding that such a review is underway with further information being sought by the court, and we urge you to allow that process to advance and for the judicial system alone to handle review of any further actions in this case. 

Gubernatorial clemency, pardons, and similar sentence forgiveness are processes for those who have taken accountability for their crimes, understand the harm that they have created, and made good faith efforts for restitution to victims and self-rehabilitation. Ms. Peters has made no efforts to these ends. Instead, she refuses to take accountability for her crimes and continues to push election-denial conspiracy theories. Her total lack of remorse is in addition to her at-times violent behavior, as was captured on video when she attacked a police officer and, separately, another inmate. We also wish to remind you that most estimates place Ms. Peters’ release around late 2027 or early 2028, should she act with good behavior. We believe this is a reasonable sentence for attempts to tamper with and sow discord around our elections. 

We would be remiss if we did not express strong concern about the impact of Ms. Peters’ crimes in fueling election conspiracy theories that undermine the integrity of our elections system as a whole. We fear that any clemency or other sentence reduction on your part will further embolden these conspiracies and those who propagate them. We urge you not to empower those who seek to undermine our elections and Republic by providing them with a figurehead to rally around and near assurance that, when you tamper with our elections, you will escape justice. 

We also wish to share our sincere concern for the safety and longevity of our county clerks, in particular rural county clerks and their staff, should you grant sentence relief. As a result of election denial conspiracy theories - the likes of which Ms. Peters continues to propagate - our election administrators face threats to their safety and attempted interference in their work. In the last year alone, we have seen one Colorado elections office targeted with arson, in addition to other increasing threats against our election workers. 

As they seek to ensure transparency and integrity in our elections, clerks and election workers should be afforded every safeguard the state can create. They have made their message clear and we reiterate it here: if you take this action, many will leave their roles and Colorado’s safe and secure elections will suffer greatly as a result.  

We applaud your transparent approach to this issue, and share your desire to see equal application of justice. In this case, we ask that you let the courts do that work, as is their mandate. 

We ask for your approach to consider - beyond all else - that the impacts of your decision ripple far beyond fairness in carceral sentencing. This is not about any of us, or you, or even Ms. Peters. This is about the security and assuredness of our elections as a whole. This is about the future of our democracy, and of free and fair elections in our nation. We ask you to stand with us in safeguarding that future. 

Thank you for your consideration of our genuine concern for the future of our elections.