DENVER ( Associated Press) — Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, a prominent Colorado election conspiracy theorist, has finally raised $256,000 to pay for a review of her losses for secretary of state in the Republican primary, state officials announced Thursday. Huh. Of the state
Peters called for a recount after losing his race by more than 85,000 votes, alleging baseless fraud.
But he didn’t pay the $236,000 that the Secretary of State’s office initially charged, insisting on a hand count instead of the machine his rules required. So on Monday Peters’ loss was officially attested.
Peters then announced that he had raised funds and renewed his request. On Thursday, the Office of the Secretary of State announced that it would re-count the machine until August 4 after Peters paid the fee.
Peters said in a statement that he had raised funds from individual donors who complied with the state’s $1,250 political contribution limit.
Republican State Representative Ron Hanks, who requested a recount with Peters after losing his US Senate primary, did not submit any funds and will not receive a recount in his race.
Peters was defeated in the GOP primary by former Jefferson County Clerk Pam Anderson, who criticized Trump’s election lies.
Peters faced multiple felony charges for his alleged role in breaching his county’s election system in search of evidence of conspiracy theories by former President Donald Trump after he lost his 2020 election.
She denies that she has done anything illegal and argues that the allegations are political vendetta for disclosing data that exposed electoral fraud.
A judge barred Peters from overseeing local elections last year and this year in Mesa County, the state’s western region, which is largely rural and heavily Republican.
Trump won it in the 2020 presidential election with about 63% of the vote. President Joe Biden won Colorado overall with 55.4% of the state’s vote.
