All 66 Democrats in the Colorado legislature signed onto a letter Wednesday urging Gov. Jared Polis not to reduce the prison sentence of former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, a missive that escalates the party’s near-universal disapproval of Polis’ posture toward the case.
“This is about the security and assuredness of our elections,” the letter said. “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 the future.”
The letter says that clemency is “for those who have taken accountability for their crimes, understand the harm they have created, and made good faith efforts for restitution to victims and self-rehabilitation.”
“Ms. Peters has made no efforts toward these ends,” it says.
The letter said reducing Peters’ nine-year prison sentence would give election conspiracy theorists “a figurehead to rally around” and send a message that there aren’t consequences for illegal activity around elections.
Peters, 70, was convicted in 2024 of orchestrating a security breach of her county’s election system in 2021 in a failed attempt to find evidence of electronic vote manipulation. Her actions were rooted in conspiracies about the 2020 election.
Tina Peters speaks during a debate for the state Republican Party chairman at a restaurant in Hudson. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)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. Some of those convictions are felonies.
Polis has criticized Peters’ sentence as being too harsh for a first-time, nonviolent offender. Last week, he moved from hinting that he would release Peters early to proactively justifying it.
In a social media post, Polis contrasted Peters’ sentence with the probation sentence received last month by former Democratic state Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis.
Jaquez Lewis was sentenced to probation and community service, at the request of Denver prosecutors, after being convicted of one count of attempting to influence a public servant and three counts of forgery, all felonies. The case stemmed from the Boulder County Democrat’s fabrication of letters of support that she sent to the Senate Ethics Committee, which was investigating Jaquez Lewis’ treatment of her Capitol aides.
“It is not lost on me that she was convicted of the exact same felony charge as Tina Peters — attempting to influence a public official — and yet Tina Peters, as a non-violent first time offender got a nine year sentence,” Polis wrote on X. “Justice in Colorado and America needs to be applied evenly, you never know when you might need to depend on the rule of law.”
He added: “This is the context I am using as I consider cases like this that have sentencing disparities.”
Last week, former State Senator Sonya Jaquez Lewis was sentenced to probation and community service after being convicted of four felonies including Attempt to Influence a Public Official. She made a horrible mistake, and she was wrong. I hope she learns from this and can rebuild…
— Jared Polis (@jaredpolis) March 4, 2026In the wake of the X post, The Colorado Sun polled every Democrat in the legislature. None said they believed Polis should grant clemency to Peters, though some declined to comment or didn’t respond to The Sun.
But now, all Democrats at the Capitol are united in opposing clemency for Peters.
President Donald Trump has demanded that Polis 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.
Trump issued a symbolic pardon of Peters last year. But because she was convicted of state crimes in a state court and sentenced by a state judge, the pardon had no effect.
The Colorado Court of Appeals is actively reviewing Peters’ sentence. During a January hearing, a three-judge panel expressed skepticism about how the sentence was determined, namely with how Mesa County District Court Judge Matthew Barrett cited Peters’ spread of election conspiracies in announcing his decision.
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.
This is a developing story that will be updated.
Hence then, the article about all 66 democrats in colorado s legislature sign letter urging jared polis not to shorten tina peters prison sentence was published today ( ) and is available on Colorado Sun ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( All 66 Democrats in Colorado’s legislature sign letter urging Jared Polis not to shorten Tina Peters’ prison sentence )
Also on site :