A recount of votes in the GOP primary for Colorado secretary of state shows what election officials knew to be true from the first round of counting: Tina Peters, an election denier, did not come close to winning her primary election.
The results affirmed what county clerks initially reported: Peters lost the election by more than 88,000 votes. Mike Beasley, lobbyist for the Colorado County Clerks Association, said all 64 counties reported they had completed their recounts and while Peters gained four votes, Pam Anderson gained seven. The changes in votes are based on ballots that needed judges to determine which way a person voted.
Peters, the Mesa County clerk and recorder who sought the GOP nomination for secretary of state, ran a campaign focused on casting doubt about the state and country’s election systems and claimed without evidence that the 2020 presidential election and following elections were “stolen,” including her own. Peters had the backing of high-profile election conspiracy theorists, including MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, who supported her financially, as well as Steve Bannon, former President Donald Trump’s chief strategist who was found guilty of criminal contempt of Congress.
