Elected officials from across Colorado largely ripped into Gov. Jared Polis’ Friday decision to dramatically accelerate the release of Tina Peters, accusing the governor of caving to President Donald Trump by commuting the election conspiracist’s sentence.
The condemnations were swift, with some officials saying the decision undercut the integrity of the nation’s elections. Outcry came largely from Polis’ fellow Democrats, who had roundly urged and pleaded with the governor not to interfere with the prison sentence for the former Mesa County clerk, but also from a coalition of county clerks.
Word of the impending decision had begun to travel earlier in the day Friday, and by the time Polis’ office released a statement that included Peters on a list of other commutations, an array of officials had readied blistering reactions.
The Colorado County Clerks Association wrote that the state’s election officials were “furious, disgusted and deeply disappointed by the governor’s decision.”
“This is now Gov. Polis’s legacy,” the clerks’ association wrote. “He will not be able to run from it or redefine it later. When given the opportunity to stand firmly for the rule of law, for the integrity of Colorado’s elections, and for the public servants who defend them, he chose a different path. This decision is shameful.”
Shad Murib, the chair of the Colorado Democratic Party, said the commutation “sends a message to future bad actors that election tampering has consequences, unless you’re friends with the president.” The Democratic leadership of the state House and Senate wrote that they “strongly opposed” Polis’ move. The leaders of the Colorado AFL-CIO and Colorado WINS, which represents state employees, both condemned Polis’ decision in separate statements.
Polis, who is in his final year in office after two terms, announced that Peters would be released on June 1. She has been incarcerated since October 2024, but the Colorado Court of Appeals threw out her more than eight-year prison sentence last month. She had not yet been resentenced.
Some Colorado elected officials praised the move. U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, a Republican who has long defended Peters, wrote : “(Gov.) Polis and I have had many conversations regarding Tina’s unjust punishment and her release,” she wrote. “My heart was filled with joy when he called me today to share this great news!” she wrote.
Republican state Rep. Scott Bottoms, who is running for governor, wrote on social media that Polis “did the right thing” by commuting Peters’ sentence. If elected, he pledged to give Peters a full pardon.
State Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer, another Republican running for governor, said Polis’ action might have been premature.
“The court process was still ongoing,” she said, “and I believe this matter would have been best handled through the judicial system rather than through executive action. I would have preferred to allow the judicial process, under which the trial judge has been ordered by the appeals court to revisit his sentencing of Ms. Peters, to run its course before considering a commutation.”
In an interview Friday, Secretary of State Jena Griswold, a Democrat, accused Polis of bowing to Trump, who has repeatedly called for Peters’ release and has taken several punitive actions against the state in recent months.
“We’re just seeing a lot of favors curried to lawlessness, and what I worry about is, in a time where the federal justice system is crippled through this corrupt federal administration, our state judicial system has to work,” Griswold said. “There has to be some checks to lawlessness.”
Sen. Katie Wallace, a Longmont Democrat who’d organized a March letter from lawmakers urging Polis not to touch Peters’ sentence, said that the governor’s decision amounted to “wanton disregard for the safety of our elections.”
“He’s doing it before her new sentence is even given again,” Wallace said. “The courts are under an order to resentence Tina Peters, and he doesn’t know what he’s forgiving.”
Every Democratic lawmaker in the state legislature signed the letter, and some had privately discussed voting to censure Polis if he altered Peters’ sentence. But the legislative session ended Wednesday, ending lawmakers’ ability to consider a formal condemnation.
“It feels very intentional, his timing, and we resent that because we are a co-equal branch of government here,” Wallace said. She acknowledged that Polis had pardon and commutation powers outside of the other branches of state government, but she said his timing was “nefarious.”
The Democratic candidates vying to succeed Polis, Attorney General Phil Weiser and U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, both criticized the decision. Weiser called the move “mind-boggling and wrong as a matter of basic justice.”
Sen. Cleave Simpson, the state Senate’s top Republican, issued a careful statement Friday that refrained from praising or criticizing Polis.
“As Republicans, we support the rule of law, due process, and accountability,” he wrote. “We recognize that many Americans remain concerned about election trust and government response. Listening to these concerns is essential.”
At least one high-ranking elected official appeared pleased with Polis’ decision: In a social media post Friday afternoon, Trump wrote, “FREE TINA!”
