Gov. Jared Polis of Colorado, a Democrat, faced strong criticism from his own party after granting clemency to Tina Peters. Peters, a prominent election denier and supporter of former President Trump, had been serving a nine-year sentence for tampering with voting machines.
The Colorado State Democratic Party officially censured Polis on Wednesday evening. The censure followed a grassroots movement by more than 700 Democrats who were angered by the governor’s decision to commute Peters’ sentence. During a state party central committee meeting, the measure passed with 89.8 percent support.
Peters was one of the most high-profile election deniers serving time, convicted for her involvement in an attempt to prove voting machine tampering in the 2020 election. Many Democratic leaders and even some Republicans in Colorado had lobbied against her clemency. They felt she remained a threat to election integrity and had shown no remorse, despite being a first-time offender at 70 years old.
Governor Polis argued that Peters received a disproportionate sentence due to her association with election conspiracy theories rather than the crime’s severity. His spokesman, Eric Maruyama, released a statement acknowledging that their decision might be unpopular but insisted it was the correct course of action.