Shasta elections official Clint Curtis throws out big name: Tina Peters
Curtis said he hopes to hire the former elections official from Colorado, who’s served time for felony election crimes. Peters is considering the offer, her attorney said.
Headlines exploded yesterday across the region and nation after Shasta County Registrar of Voters Clint Curtis announced on a radio show that he hoped to hire former Colorado elections official Tina Peters.
The name drop drew an instantaneous reaction from large media outlets including the New York Times, which amplified Curtis’ interest in Peters, who was convicted for interfering in the 2020 election.
President Donald Trump has long supported Peters and even issued her a symbolic pardon after her sentencing in 2024. She was released earlier this summer, after Trump pressured the governor of Colorado to shorten her sentence.
Curtis said Peters would be a good choice for the role because “she can take the rocks and arrows.”
On Sunday’s episode of local Shasta radio show “Jefferson State of Mine,” Curtis briefly mentioned hopes to speak with Trump about California elections, something he thinks may gain a sympathetic ear with the president, who’s already launched a federal probe in Los Angeles County.
Curtis hopes to hire Peters to fill the role of Assistant Registrar of Voters Brent Turner, who the elections official announced would be leaving his role next month. Reached for comment by phone today, Turner contradicted that claim, saying he had no plans to step down.
“I believe I’m the assistant registrar. And if anything changes I will certainly let you know,” Turner said.
He added that he had only heard about Curtis’ interest in working with Tina Peters from the media, saying, “It’s certainly a plot twist that was unanticipated.”
Separately, Shasta County spokesperson Miranda Angel shared information that backed Turner’s claim, noting “there is no formal proposal or application to replace the current Assistant Registrar of Voters.” She added that “any prospective employee or consultant would go through the same hiring process as anyone else seeking employment with the County.”
Curtis has not said directly whether he’s made any offer to Peters, or if she’s accepted, instead simply mentioning that he talked with her last week. But her attorney, Peter Ticktin, confirmed today that she’s considering the role.
“Tina Peters is giving consideration to helping in the efforts in Shasta County as there most definitely has been monkey business in the way the election was handled,” Ticktin said in a statement sent by his publicist. He called Peters “one of the key voices leading the effort to get the invasive machines out of our election process.”
Curtis’ announcement about Peters is just the latest headline to have brought national attention to Shasta County’s elections under his supervision.
Shasta’s ROV, who ran his second election in June, recently claimed that there were a number of ballots cast that didn’t “look or feel right” and “didn’t smell right, either.” He cited a number of similar allegations from individuals working in the election office. The majority of those testimonials came from individuals who donated to Curtis’ unsuccessful campaign to maintain his seat as ROV in the June primary.
Many of those same individuals have also helped push forward Measure B, a ballot initiative approved by Shasta County voters that mandates the implementation of voter ID requirements and other major changes to local election procedure — all of which are illegal in the state of California. The measure has already prompted a lawsuit from the California Attorney General and has been temporarily suspended by a Shasta judge, pending a longer legal battle.
During vote counting in June, the elections official made no mention of suspect ballots, and he certified the election as usual last month. But last week Curtis told the media his concerns about June ballot irregularity had prompted him to lock ballots in an upstairs room at the elections office for potential inspection by the FBI. According to Curtis, FBI agents were in Shasta last week, something the agency has not confirmed. So far, Curtis has said, agents haven’t inspected ballots.
Curtis was also censured just one week ago by the same Shasta County board that hired him last year. Just after the public meeting in which he was censured, Curtis responded by alleging at least one of his staff had committed election crimes, earning him a new rebuke from County CEO David Rickert who emphasized that employees had not been investigated for such actions and should not be deprived of due process rights.
Asked if his claims about suspect ballots and employee conduct indicate that he didn’t run the secure election he promised when he was hired last year, Curtis said it’s impossible to do so without a change in the law. He mentioned his interest in seeing Trump’s Save America Act passed to ensure the use of voter ID and in-person voting, both of which are currently illegal in California.
“The president wants to actually fix this issue,” Curtis told the hosts of the radio show.
“And this would be the issue that we say [to him], this is how mail-in ballots are,” he went on. “They could come in fake. They could come in forged, and there’s nothing the ROV, and the systems they have, are going to be able to do about it. So you got to get rid of that system. You got to have an ID, and you got to have in-person voting, and that eliminates the whole problem.”
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So, Tina Peters, eh? Aka the Bull Goose Looney of the election denier crowd. Don’t think so.
If Mr. Curtis does hire TO as Assistant ROV, can’t Joanna just fire her when she takes office just like Mr. Curtis did to her when he was appointed? Seriously though, Mr. Curtis is just talking out his back end again. He’s doing no such thing. They guy is so predictable.
Yes, why would she take a job and move out to NorCal, when if accepted, she’d likely not start work until late Sept. (if then) when she’d be dismissed as soon as Joanna takes office? The whole thing is stupid and irrational.
Admit it Clint… we sunk your stinking battleship.
Be prepared for a lot of empty clout chasing by ol’ Clint. The odds of this actually happening are slim, but it gets his name out there and people will happily take the bait. MAGA is dying, the cultists will persevere, but they know they’re going to be relegated to their echo chamber trailer parks and hillbilly Deliverance porches once again. Their 15 minutes are past. Womp womp.
Lol
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“They’? Who is “they”?
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Hasn’t Mr Curtis been the ROV for more than a year now? Didn’t he fill the elections department with election deniers? Didn’t you say he ran one of the most transparent elections ever?
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But somehow, after the best chance that they were ever going to get to prove there was mass election fraud, still somehow, there’s nothing but these whiny accusations.
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This election was so transparent, and ran so well, yet these super ninjas somehow were still able to commit fraud and destroy proof, yada yada yada…
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Here’s the thing, Nick: people eventually stopped listening to the boy who cried wolf.
Apologies, my comment above was a reply to Nick Gardner.
Are you kidding me about Tina Peters? Doesn’t our county have enough problems without importing another one? She’s a felon for God sakes. Get a grip people how much more corruption can we allow to happen in our own back yard?
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The BOS can’t fire Curtis, but they can get a workplace restraining order, confiscate his County-provided electronic devices, and change the locks on the doors to the ROV’s office.”
I have to wonder where all of you were when Moty was having an affair with another supervisor. Nothing has been proven against Clint and yet you people want to fray him . He ran an honest, transparent election. Please list his failings concerning the last election.
Disagree. Two separate investigations confirm his actions. He has also proven his vindictive nature by his own actions in the last two weeks.
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But sure man, tell yourself that it is literally almost everyone else in the entire county just out to get him and frame him.
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You know what REALLY hasn’t been proven though? Mass election fraud in Shasta County.
“You know what REALLY hasn’t been proven though? Mass election fraud in Shasta County.”—That’s because they destroyed the evidence.
And who, exactly, are “they”? You may need some new tinfoil for your haberdashery collection.
Selah
Nick, you say, “They destroyed the evidence”. Aren’t the “They” you are referring to the ones Mr. Curtis personally hired in the ROV office? I mean thats the only explanation right? Nick it really is time for a med change my dear.
You must have missed the news he is claiming the election he oversaw and certified was rife with fraud. Thousands of illegal ballots, things didn’t look or smell right. Suspicious ballots neatly completed on unusual paper. True, we are stuck with this MAGA infected clown until January, unless the ongoing investigations conclude he deserves to follow the footsteps of Tina Peters into the clinker. And I guarantee you, our Governor will not fold like an umbrella and spring him from prison because our election denier-in-chief blackmails California with threats of withholding federal money.
Can the County order him to have all communication with media, FBI,…, reviewed by someone in the county before it is released.
Basically lock him up in a basement somewhere.
Fat chance of the county ordering him to not do, or do something and him actually following it. Like reporting election tampering of an employee without going through HR and other procedures. Like the press conference he is supposed to have today (25th) at the sheriffs office and the sheriff knows nothing about it.
Curtis is nothing but a shock jock, he is wallowing in the Patrick Jones pig pen along with the other so called Shasta County MAGA’s. MAGA’s time of terror is coming to an end. American will not go back, the only way is forward which will be with empathy, kindness, WOKE, a safety net for those in need, medical insurance for all, and justice and equality for all.
He and his maga board and ex board and election commission soj new California reding Crime 2.0 poll volunteers purged me from the voting rolls purposely, because phj told them too. I got it reinstated, but the jail sheriff covered up the purge of me for over a year and never got me my legal ballot that I’ve been registered, and had delivered for 13 years here in maga land!
Henry – I’m surprised you found time between crimes and jail service to vote.
Lovely. Just simply lovely.
Jesus… Vote in numerous POS’s then sit back while they appoint other POS’s…
Do as much damage as possible — hoping those you hate or dislike are punished…
Had enough yet? Knowing this county, probably not…
Folks, we need to take a breath and relax. All that’s happening here is Curtis’ clownish maneuvering to get onto the national stage and become the new pillow salesman extraordinaire.
So true and we also need to remove the supervisors who gave him license. Crye is already voted out in the June election. Kelstrom can be voted out this November and hopefully Harmon will just tuck tail and run ….
Shasta County, we have been used by political (and judicial) losers by the likes of Hobbs, Crye, Curtis, P. Jones, and Mr. Pillow, backed by The Water Users, Shasta Five, Peter Ticken, Moms For Liberty, neo-confederate secessionist short-term Congressman James Gallagher, etc., to put us on the map as the “Tip of the Spear” for Trumpian social, economic, electoral, and political ambitions.
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This latest move by rejected Curtis, attempting to hire Tina Peters, a 4-count convicted election felon and 3-count misdemeanor criminal, is the sound of a fish flopping around on the dock before he leaves us. $50 says Peters will never make it to Shasta County.
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Yes, they have severely divided us as a community, hurt us economically by the millions, and brought us into national and even international news, hoping that fascist authoritarian Trump and his minions will appreciate them. And I dare say most Republicans and many SCRCC members are hoping (or literally praying) that the SAVE ACT somehow passes Congress and saves them, that Trump prevails in Trump v. California, or that Trump simply declares a national-security emergency and takes control of the November 2026 midterms.
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And I don’t expect one Shasta County Republican politician or one member of the SCRCC to express a word of remorse for endorsing Crye, Curtis, or Trump, a court-adjudicated rapist (34-count felon), or to acknowledge how Trumpian thinking, beliefs, and actions have severely injured Shasta County. Or would I expect any of them to accept an offer to debate this harm in public? Not one of them.
First bit of misinformation is “we need to get the invasive machines out of our voting process”. We use paper ballots, not voting machines. Only exception is infrequently used ADA compliant voting machines for disabled. It prints a paper ballot once voter has finished voting. We use tabulators to read all the paper ballots then use hand counting of random sample to verify machine accuracy.
This is bad news, again, for Shasta County. People will change their minds about moving here and some who live here will leave. Local MAGA will celebrate that while local businesses struggle and professionals like doctors leave or refuse to come here. This is the kind of publicity the Redding Chamber of Commerce likely considers cringeworthy.
Tina Peters is a gold star mom and honest clerk who was railroaded by corrupt judge and prosecutor in Colorado. It would be an honor to have her here in Shasta Co. anyone who says otherwise is misinformed. Ignore them; they have not followed her trial like I have and read the statements made by the judge in the case. Do your own homework before you attempt to sully the fine reputation of this woman.
😂 lol
Listen to what the judge said to her on the day she was sentenced after you stop drinking the election denier Koolaid long enough to clear your brain of the MAGA fog.
The Colorado Court of Appeals ordered resentencing, and found that the original sentence improperly considered ‘aspects of her speech’. That is what I was referring to. Things the judge said at sentencing. It is not Koolaid, it’s a fact. Do your research before you attempt to smear people.
Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, commuted the sentence (reducing it substantially), and Peters was released on parole around June 1, 2026.
Just what Shasta County needs is another parolee from out of the area.
I rather enjoyed her opening performance at the time of arrest. She clearly displayed her charming personality and respect for LE….🙄
https://youtu.be/rBaJX9h-HIQ?is=xGJlP84bXcsPl4dX
The charges against Peters were clearly delineated, and clearly proven – involving actions that were clearly (and knowingly) against the law, and clearly intentional. There was no ‘railroading’ – this was an elected election official that abrogated the law (and her own integrity) in favor of siding with conspirators and nut jobs.
Any defense of her ‘performance’ deserves nothing more than loud mockery.
What a shame that Shasta County got so much positive press/attention for the Ironmen and Curtis wipes it out in one short interview. Nationally, we become again the laugh-stock of the country.
Exactly. Folks in Olympia sent me the Guardian story link. Discouraging that Shasta County keeps pushing out so much bad publicity. The Guardian had a comment from France a few years ago.
You know how to identify the French army? They have sunburned armpits. Send that up to Olympia.
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Shasta County is not the laughing stock of anywhere because people everywhere have their own embarrassing drama to worry about.
Found one of the people who doesn’t have the good sense to be embarrassed about what is going on locally.
Nick, you need to get out more. We are indeed a laughingstock. It’s embarrassing, and it’s costly in the currencies of opportunity, investment, and quality of life. Important people—doctors, business owners, etc.—don’t want any part of this shit-show, which is why they’re in short supply. Smart people in California and beyond mock us.
This is what comes of allowing children to drive the school bus … Had about enough Shasta County?
The controversy is enormous in the short term, but the practical long-term consequences may be much smaller than the headlines suggest.
The real thing to watch is the exact terms of any hiring or consulting agreement Curtis enters into before leaving office. That determines whether this is merely a few months of political theater—or something that could actually constrain Francescut after January.
So much uproar for nothing.
Given the Record Searchlight is reporting that this is not in the budget, her hire as a consultant would be contingent on getting a Board majority to approve her contract. I would also hope Curtis would have to justify to the Board why he wants to hire someone who would fail a background check and not a more qualified candidate and why he would not do a competitive process. I think Crye and Harmon would probably support the hire, but if Kelstrom wants to win his runoff I hope he will be smart enough to vote No. I think we can be confident Long and Plummer will vote no.
Exactly this. Curtis is a temporary buffoon. Im surprised the hysterical transplant liberals in the comments havent called him Hitler yet. The only reason Redding is a hillbilly backwater is because we dont have a university.
And why is there no university?
Why did the last opportunity go to Merced?
He just has no concept that he doesn’t have a mandate from Shasta County voters. I’ll say it again. He was never elected. He had his position gifted to him by a Supervisor who was trounced in June, another who barely made it to a runoff, and an incompetent Supervisor. He was originally championed by yet another Supervisor who was trounced in the 2024 election. It’s time to accept that the majority of voters don’t want him here and resign.
Tina Peters is on probation until 2029 and can’t leave Colorado until then. Curtis would have to hire her as a remote private contractor—I’ve read elsewhere that a Shasta County statute bars the hiring of felons as employees. Working remotely has a precedent—reportedly, current Assistant ROV Brent Turner rarely works in the ROV’s office (if he works at all), preferring to stay home in SF.
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One of my favorite parts of the article is Turner finding out through the press that his ass is grass—Curtis announcing that Turner plans on stepping down next month. Curtis has the same kind of loyalty displayed by Orange Mussolini.
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Peters’ position wouldn’t be an elected position and thus wouldn’t have the protected status that Curtis enjoys. The BOS could terminate her in an instant if she somehow were hired as an employee or refuse to approve a contract for her to work as a consultant.
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Curtis is either as dumb and delusional as the rest of the local MAGA groundlings, or he knows this is a doomed and this is just another wild-ass stunt to slake his attention-whore thirst.
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The BOS can’t fire Curtis, but they can get a workplace restraining order, confiscate his County-provided electronic devices, and change the locks on the doors to the ROV’s office. DO IT!
Get serious people Curtis is doing his damnedest to solicit some favor with our pumpkin head and pumpkin brained president, it’s the only job opportunity he hasn’t dynamited by his own blundering.
Is he grousing for an invite to Mar-a-Lardo?
Perhaps a job in Trump’s DOJ…
Brokengate-
Yep, that’s his whole ball of wax….being in Trump’s orbit. Maybe he’s not that far off the mark; he certainly checks all the MAGA preferred employee conduct boxes. The one thing that might hold him back from realizing his dream is that he’s not a Fox news host. Still…one never knows, Trump loves a “good” fabulist.
Why can’t the BOS fire him? They appointed him; he was never elected. Is there something in the county charter, that separates the ROV office from any kind of reprimand? They just censured this walking poster child for UV Ray Skin Damage, last week! No one is immune from being fired; I just don’t understand why they can’t do something. They approve the budgets for all departments; maybe this department needs even more mentoring and oversight.
They can’t fire him because the State of California Constitution doesn’t allow it. Regardless of him being appointed, it’s an elected office, so he either has to be recalled or voted out. The latter has happened, but he gets to ride out his current term.
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The BOS could vote to constrain his activities to the point where he’s effectively neutered, though. He’d file a lawsuit, but he’s saying he’s going to do that anyway, so why not tie his hands behind his back starting immediately?
Yes, peters would have to get permission of Colorado probation office to come to California and then California has to be willing to accept her. This is certainly not going to happen especially in time for the next election. But I would expect he would continue to try to hire her, even if she couldn’t start until after the election just to prove his own point and supposed power.
It is already on national news feeds that Shasta County is hiring or has hired this woman. Time for someone to file a lawsuit demanding Curtis resign. Where do I sign?
But wait…I thought he wanted to hire Joanna??
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Lmao, you can’t make this stuff up! 😂
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I wonder if any of the local election deniers have the good sense to be even slightly embarrassed at this stuff. (Nah…I doubt it)
Jolly: While we cut this detail from the final story to reduce reader fatigue, former Assistant Registrar Joanna Francescut, who’s slated to take Curtis seat in January, confirmed for us today that Curtis never had a conversation with her about the role he told Shasta Scout he hoped to offer her. Learn more here: https://shastascout.org/shasta-elections-official-curtis-says-he-hopes-to-hire-former-opponent-and-rov-elect-francescut-as-assistant-rov/
Just when it seems it can’t get any dumber. Clown Curtis has obviously decided to go out in a blaze of glory and do as much damage as possible in the meantime. It’s particularly priceless that his MiniMe had no idea he was losing his assistant job. The BOS have to take whatever legal remedies may be available, including making a formal request to SOS Weber to oversee November’s election.
Selah
Lol. Mini me had no idea. Great comment.