State Democratic Party censures governor after he commutes Peters' sentence

Local News Colorado Democratic Party censures Gov. Jared Polis after he commutes Tina Peters' sentence By Shaun Boyd Shaun Boyd Reporter Shaun Boyd is Your Political Reporter at CBS News Colorado. Share you story ideas with her by sending an email to sboyd@cbs.com or yourreporter@cbs.com. Read Full Bio Shaun Boyd Updated on: May 20, 2026 / 11:12 PM EDT / CBS Colorado Add CBS News on Google The central committee of the Colorado Democratic Party on Wednesday voted 89.8% in favor of a measure to censure Gov. Jared Polis. A censure temporarily bars him from speaking or participating in party-sponsored events. Polis said earlier that the petition by hundreds of Democrats that called for the action is politically motivated. The petition is in response to Polis' decision to commute the sentence of former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters. The judge gave her nearly 9 years for her role in tampering with election equipment to prove unsubstantiated claims of fraud. Polis cut the sentence in half. Peters could be paroled as early as June 1. Gov. Jared Polis CBS "My goal is to make the right decision with the information I have and that's exactly what I did in this case," Polis said. "I think the fact this has seemingly become so partisan shows the problem with this case, frankly. No case should be viewed from a partisan lens. Each case is about an individual and the crime they committed." The governor says he looked at other cases of corruption by public officials and none of them had sentences as steep as Peters. "In nearly every case we saw probation, we saw 6 months," he said. Peters' sentence, he says, was based too much on what she said rather than what she did. The appellate court raised the same concern. "Clearly, her free speech -- however much we disagree with it -- was used as a factor in that sentencing," Polis said. Mesa County District Attorney Dan Rubenstein disagrees. "This was not just a one act. This was a months-long pattern of deception to try to violate every s...