Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters lost to Jefferson County Clerk Pam Anderson in the Republican primary for CO Secretary of State in late June. Peters gained notoriety in the Spring of 2021 for allegedly leaking the passwords to Mesa County’s election machines to a right-wing blog. She has been indicted on ten felony and misdemeanor charges by a Colorado grand jury, to which she has pleaded not guilty, and was barred by a state judge from overseeing elections, according to Allan Smith at NBC. 

Rhetoric casting doubt on the legitimacy of the 2020 and other elections constituted the majority of Peters’ campaign, and she emphasized her alliances with former president Donald Trump and conservative My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell in an attempt to curry favor with the Colorado Republican base. This strategy proved insufficient, though, as Peters lost her primary by 88,579 votes (about 14 points), as reported by CPR’s Bente Birkland. 

The Mesa County Clerk refused to accept this result, however, and paid $256,000 to fund a full recount of the votes. Most of the money used to pay for the recount came from out-of-state donors after Peters appealed for funds on Steve Bannon’s podcast, according to Birkland. The recount failed to change the result, giving Peters only thirteen additional votes due to a 37-vote error in Elbert County. Pam Anderson also gained thirteen votes, and Mike O’Donnell’s total increased by eleven. 

Jefferson County Clerk Pam Anderson will go on to contest the current Secretary of State Jena Griswold in the general election in November, while Peters now has time to address the numerous charges brought against her.