Jared Polis says Tina Peters decision "will be remembered fondly"

Key Points:

• Colorado Gov. Jared Polis defended his decision to commute former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters’ nine-year prison sentence to parole starting June 1, stating he believes her original sentence was excessively harsh and politically motivated.
• Peters was convicted in August 2024 of multiple felony charges related to breaching election security in an attempt to prove voter fraud, a move that sparked bipartisan criticism and calls from some Democrats for Polis’s impeachment or censure.
• Despite the backlash, including opposition from U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet who said Polis’s decision disqualifies him from appointment to Bennet’s Senate seat, top Colorado Democrats indicated there is insufficient support for a special legislative session to censure or impeach the governor.
• Polis emphasized his commitment to acting on his convictions and dismissed concerns that commuting Peters’ sentence would be political suicide, noting he has no plans to run for office again and opposing federal funds proposed to compensate election conspiracy theorists like Peters.
• Polis’s remarks at a public event were disrupted by protesters opposing the commutation and other policies, highlighting ongoing tensions as he approaches the end of his term; campus security eventually removed the demonstrators after a 30-minute interruption.