Democratic Colorado Gov. Jared Polis was censured by his own party Wednesday evening for his decision to grant clemency to election denier Tina Peters.
The Colorado Democratic Party voted to rebuke the governor over his decision to free Peters.
“Reducing her sentence now, under pressure from Donald Trump, is not justice,” the state party stated in a statement. “It sends a message to future bad actors that election tampering has consequences, unless you’re friends with the president. That’s a dangerous and disappointing precedent to set.”
The former Mesa County clerk is about to be free of state jail on June 1, after Polis’ commutation minimize her sentence in half. A jury convicted Peters of conspiring with allies of President Donald Trump to breach voting techniques in her county in 2021, in hopes of proving his 2020 fraud claims.
State Democrats stated they formally censured the governor “for conduct inconsistent with the Colorado Democratic Party’s commitment to democratic institutions, election integrity, and public accountability.”
The party added: “Until further action by the State Central Committee or Executive Committee, Governor Jared Polis shall not participate as an honored guest, featured speaker, or officially recognized representative of the Colorado Democratic Party at Party-sponsored events and functions, including but not limited to the Obama Gala and DemFest.”
A spokesperson for Polis stated in a press release Wednesday the governor did what he thought was proper based mostly on the info of the case, including, “Sometimes the right thing isn’t the popular thing with everybody. Democracy is strongest when disagreement is met with debate and dialogue, not censorship.”
Peters’ impending launch is a victory for Trump and the right-wing election denier motion, which hails her as a hero who was unjustly prosecuted. Trump has waged an extended stress marketing campaign in opposition to Colorado over Peters’ incarceration. She is the final Trump ally nonetheless in jail for 2020 election-related crimes.
Polis’ decision to free Peters garnered bipartisan condemnation from Colorado officers. His decision got here after she acknowledged for the primary time since her 2024 conviction that she “made a mistake” and “misled” Colorado election officers.
Witnesses testified at Peters’ trial that in 2021, she gave individuals affiliated with pro-Trump conspiracy theorist Mike Lindell unauthorized entry to the election workplaces in Mesa County, the place she was the clerk. Witnesses stated they made copies of delicate election information so they might audit the 2020 outcomes.
Last month, a state appeals courtroom upheld Peters’ criminal convictions. However, it ordered the trial choose to re-sentence her, discovering that he improperly based mostly a part of the punishment on Peters’ protected speech about elections, violating her First Amendment rights.
Polis beforehand informed NCS he agreed with that ruling, saying, “I hope that Democrats don’t sacrifice our deeply held belief in free speech because of political expediency or disregard for what people are saying. There should be no consideration of what we say, how unpopular it is, how inaccurate it is in sentencing or in criminal proceedings.”
Democratic Rep. Jason Crow of Colorado stated Wednesday evening he supported the state party’s decision.
“The Democratic Party must fight for democracy and the rule of law. We must be consistent, courageous, resolute, and willing to call out our own when they fall short,” he stated in a press release.
NCS’s Marshall Cohen and Edward-Isaac Dovere contributed to this report.