County clerks from both parties feel abandoned by Polis for letting felon Peters out of jail early

Gov. Jared Polis, a Vail homeowner, thinks his decision to commute the prison sentence of 2020 election denier, convicted felon and former Mesa County Clerk and Recorder Tina Peters will someday be viewed in the same light as former Beaver Creek resident and President Gerald Ford’s pardon of President Richard Nixon: An act of national “reconciliation and healing.”

For many Democrats and some Republicans in Colorado, that day will never arrive. While his own party calls for the censure or even impeachment of Polis for essentially ending Peters’ nearly nine-year sentence for breaching her own election systems in support of President Donald Trump’s widely debunked 2020 election claims, current and former Colorado clerks from both sides of the aisle say something much larger than the governor’s legacy is at stake.

“We are furious, disgusted, and deeply disappointed by the Governor’s decision,” the Colorado County Clerk’s Association (CCCA) wrote in a statement. “At a time when election officials need strong support, this decision abandons them and supports the attack on the legitimacy of American elections.”

Polis, a Democrat who is term-limited and will leave office at the end of the year, spoke about his decision Tuesday at The Colorado Sun’s annual legislative recap event at the University of Denver: “I think this will be remembered fondly. The nation needs to have a reconciliation and healing.”

Some observers, however, have come to look less fondly on Ford’s pardon of Nixon in the wake of Trump’s attacks on democratic institutions, including the peaceful transfer of power on Jan. 6, 2021. There is growing concern about the possibility of federal interference in upcoming elections, which are run by states and administered around the country by county clerks.

Current Eagle County Clerk and Recorder Becky Close, an unaffiliated candidate for the office in November, has overseen extraordinary measures to guarantee election security and transparency at the county’s new state-of-the-art election center in the Eagle County Commons building in Edwards.

In November, Close supported — along with many clerks from both major political parties in Colorado — a CCCA letter objecting to a potential commutation of Tina Peters’ sentence.

“While the Governor’s recent decision to commute her sentence is unexpected, the power to grant clemency is entirely within the legal purview and discretion of the Governor’s office,” Close said in an email statement to the Vail Daily this week.

Eagle County Treasurer Teak Simonton — a former Republican who’s now a Democrat and is seeking reelection in November — served for years at the Eagle County Clerk and Recorder. She was not pleased with the Polis decision.

“I am concerned by the Governor’s choice to commute Ms. Peters’ sentence,” Simonton wrote in an email. “Ms. Peters was found guilty by a jury of her peers for violating protocols meant to protect election security, and her sentence reflected that. I believe the original outcome reached by the court should have been respected to maintain faith in our justice system. This reduction sends the wrong message about the importance of accountability for public officials.”

Peters, who was prosecuted by a Republican district attorney and convicted on four felony and three misdemeanor state charges in 2024, became a national celebrity in election-denial circles, flying on the plane of MyPillow’s Mike Lindell in 2022 while actively stoking widespread suspicion of Colorado’s largely secure election systems. Peters was not pardoned by Polis and is therefore still a convicted felon.

Original reporting from vaildaily.com