{"id":847,"date":"2026-03-04T23:42:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T23:42:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/847\/"},"modified":"2026-03-04T23:42:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T23:42:14","slug":"not-a-single-democrat-in-the-colorado-legislature-says-jared-polis-should-reduce-tina-peters-sentence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/847\/","title":{"rendered":"Not a single Democrat in the Colorado legislature says Jared Polis should reduce Tina Peters\u2019 sentence"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

No Democrat in the Colorado legislature thinks that Gov. Jared Polis should reduce the nine-year prison sentence of former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, which the governor has all but said he will do.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Colorado Sun on Wednesday asked each of the 66 Democrats in the General Assembly whether they think Polis should commute Peters\u2019 sentence after the governor offered justification on social media Tuesday<\/a> should he do just that. None said \u201cyes,\u201d and many used expletives in emphatically saying \u201cno.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s a ridiculous idea,\u201d said state Rep. Karen McCormick, a Longmont Democrat. \u201cWhat is he thinking?\u201d<\/p>\n

Three Democrats in the legislature declined to comment when asked if Polis should reduce Peters\u2019 sentence, while three either were absent from the Capitol on Wednesday or did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment. All others said Polis should not reduce Peters\u2019 sentence.<\/p>\n

Peters, 70, was convicted in 2024<\/a> of orchestrating a security breach<\/a> of her county\u2019s election system in 2021 in a failed attempt<\/a> to find evidence of electronic vote manipulation. Her actions were rooted in conspiracies about the 2020 election.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A Mesa County jury found Peters guilty of three counts of attempting to influence a public servant; conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation; official misconduct; violation of duty; and failure to comply with an order of the secretary of state.<\/p>\n

\"\"Former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters at the GOP Assembly in the World Arena on Saturday, April 9, 2022, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. (Hugh Carey, The Colorado Sun)<\/p>\n

She was sentenced in October 2024<\/a> and is being held at the La Vista Correctional Facility in Pueblo. She is eligible for parole in November 2028, and it is uncommon for people convicted of nonviolent offenses to serve their full terms.<\/p>\n

Polis has been saying for months that he thinks Peters\u2019 sentence was too harsh and indicating that he was leaning toward reducing her prison term. But on Tuesday, he went a step further, contrasting Peters\u2019 sentence to the probation sentence received last week<\/a> by former Democratic state Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jaquez Lewis was sentenced<\/a> to probation and community service, at the request of Denver prosecutors, after being convicted<\/a> of one count of attempting to influence a public servant and three counts of forgery. The case stemmed from the Boulder County Democrat\u2019s fabrication of letters of support that she sent to the Senate Ethics Committee, which was investigating Jaquez Lewis\u2019 treatment of her Capitol aides.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not lost on me that she was convicted of the exact same felony charge as Tina Peters \u2014 attempting to influence a public official \u2014 and yet Tina Peters, as a non-violent first time offender got a nine year sentence,\u201d Polis wrote on X<\/a>. \u201cJustice in Colorado and America needs to be applied evenly, you never know when you might need to depend on the rule of law.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cThis is the context I am using as I consider cases like this that have sentencing disparities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Legislative Democrats push back<\/p>\n

Democrats in the legislature Wednesday said the comparison between Peters\u2019 crimes and Jaquez Lewis\u2019 crimes was wrong.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t see the connection,\u201d said state Sen. Tom Sullivan, a Centennial Democrat who thinks the governor should not reduce Peters\u2019 sentence.<\/p>\n

State Rep. Meg Froelich, an Englewood Democrat, called the comparison \u201cridiculous.\u201d State Rep. Steven Woodrow, a Denver Democrat, called it \u201cstrikingly disingenuous.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNot only are the two situations nothing alike, the governor has been mulling this decision for some time,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

State Rep. Chad Clifford, a Centennial Democrat, went so far as to say it was wrong for Jaquez Lewis not to be sentenced to jail or prison time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"State Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis, D-Longmont, in the Colorado Senate on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025, at the Colorado Capitol in Denver. (Jesse Paul, The Colorado Sun)<\/p>\n

In a written statement, a spokesperson for Polis defended the governor\u2019s social media post.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe governor has expressed skepticism around this inmate\u2019s sentence and was noting the difference in sentencing for two people, both public officials, with the same charge,\u201d said Shelby Wieman, the spokesperson. \u201cGov. Polis is not considering a pardon for Tina Peters, and is reviewing her application like anyone else applying for clemency.\u201d<\/p>\n

If Polis reduces Peters\u2019 sentence, state Rep. Emily Sirota, a Denver Democrat, said there would likely be a response from the legislature.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe things she did require a response to demonstrate that interfering with our elections while she was clerk will not be tolerated,\u201d Sirota said.<\/p>\n

The legislature cannot overrule the governor\u2019s clemency powers, but it could pursue a resolution expressing formal disapproval. Democrats hold overwhelmingly majorities in the state House and Senate.<\/p>\n

Other Democrats in the General Assembly expressed anger at the governor for even considering reducing Peters\u2019 sentence.<\/p>\n

\u201cClemency is for accountability and rehabilitation \u2014 not entitlement,\u201d said state Sen. Julie Gonzales, a Denver Democrat. \u201cPeters refuses to take accountability (and) continues to push election-denial conspiracy theories. She is not a clemency case, and this shouldn\u2019t be a hard call.\u201d<\/p>\n

State Rep. Bob Marshall, D-Highlands Ranch, said he was opposed to Polis reducing Peters\u2019 sentence \u201cfrom what I know right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe is elderly,\u201d he said. \u201cIf she has severe medical issues, and they would do a humanitarian commutation, that would be appropriate. As far as everything I know right now, she doesn\u2019t have a major issue, so he should treat her like any other prisoner in making a determination of whether she should be released or not.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Democratic state lawmakers who declined to comment on whether Polis should reduce Peters\u2019 sentence were state Reps. Jacque Phillips of Thornton, Michael Carter of Aurora and Lisa Feret of Arvada.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m staying out of that,\u201d Phillips said.<\/p>\n

The Capitol Democrats who didn\u2019t immediately respond to Colorado Sun messages Wednesday were state Rep. Tisha Mauro of Pueblo, as well as state Sens. Judy Amabile of Boulder and Kyle Mullica of Thornton.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s threats<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump has urged Polis to pardon Peters. He has threatened Colorado with the loss of federal funding if the state does not release her and lobbed personal insults at the governor in the process.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Trump issued a symbolic pardon<\/a> of Peters last year. But because Peters was convicted of state crimes in a state court and sentenced by a state judge, the pardon had no effect.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Colorado Court of Appeals is actively reviewing Peters\u2019 sentence. During a January hearing, a three-judge panel expressed skepticism<\/a> about how it was determined, namely with how Mesa County District Court Judge Matthew Barrett cited Peters\u2019 spread of election conspiracies in announcing his decision.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The appeals court is expected to issue a ruling in the coming weeks. It appears Polis may be waiting for the appellate panel to weigh in before deciding how to act.<\/p>\n

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said Wednesday that reducing Peters\u2019 sentence would be a \u201cgrave miscarriage of justice.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cClemency should be based on remorse, rehabilitation, and extenuating circumstances \u2014 not on political influence, favor, or retribution,\u201d Weiser said in a statement. Weiser is running for governor.<\/p>\n

Mesa County District Attorney Dan Rubinstein, a Republican who led the prosecution of Peters, said in a statement that\u201dno two crimes and no two defendants are the same.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile the governor has the legal authority to modify that sentence, doing so here would be a gross injustice to the affected citizens I represent,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, a Democrat whose office was directly affected by Peters\u2019 actions, echoed that sentiment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not accurate to suggest that Peters\u2019 and Sonya Jaquez Lewis\u2019 actions or impacts are the same,\u201d Griswold said. \u201cPeters organized the breach of the election equipment, broke the public trust and attacked the very foundations of our democratic process. Her actions are still being used to try to undermine the 2026 election. She should get no special treatment by the governor, and his statement is shocking and worrisome.\u201d<\/p>\n

Polis\u2019 term ends in early 2027.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"No Democrat in the Colorado legislature thinks that Gov. Jared Polis should reduce the nine-year prison sentence of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":848,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1157,1158,1159,1160,38,8,1161,9,1162,7],"class_list":{"0":"post-847","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-stories","8":"tag-colorado-general-assembly","9":"tag-colorado-governor","10":"tag-colorado-legislature","11":"tag-colorado-politics","12":"tag-donald-trump","13":"tag-headlines","14":"tag-jared-polis","15":"tag-news","16":"tag-tina-peters","17":"tag-top-stories"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@news\/116173559739928935","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/847","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=847"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/847\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}