Lauren Boebert race for Congress too close to call in Eastern Plains 4th District

HIGHLANDS RANCH/WINDSOR — The race between U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert and Democratic challenger Eileen Laubacher was too close to call Tuesday night as votes were still being counted in the Colorado congressional district most favorable to Republicans. 

At midnight, retired U.S. Navy rear admiral Eileen Laubacher had 49.3% of the votes tallied and Boebert had 47.7%. Laubacher was leading by about 5,000 votes with 80% of the votes counted. Douglas Mageris of the Libertarian Party had 3%.

The Republican congresswoman was first elected to represent the 4th Congressional District in 2024, which spans the Eastern Plains and into Douglas County and Loveland, after moving to Windsor. Before that, she represented the 3rd District spanning western and southern Colorado for two terms.

Polls showed Boebert, 39, was in for a tighter race this time but that the 4th District, once considered solidly Republican, would still lean Republican. She was trying to hang onto her seat in Washington, D.C., despite continued personal issues that made for embarrassing news leading up to Election Day, including appearing in court to ask for leniency for her son, who faced charges of child abuse and sexual exploitation.

President Donald Trump endorsed Boebert four days before the election, calling her a “MAGA Warrior” in a social media post. He also held a telephone rally for her.

The endorsement came five months after Trump called Boebert “dumb” and “weak-minded” because she campaigned for U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican and a Trump critic. The change of heart signaled that Boebert’s reelection needed an assist. 

Two years ago, Boebert was reelected by 11 percentage points with 53% of the vote, even after enduring public mockery for being escorted out of a 2023 performance of the musical “Beetlejuice,” where she and a date were seen taking photographs, groping each other and vaping in the theater. About two months after the theater incident, she announced she was moving to the 4th District. She had won in the 3rd District in 2022 by just 546 votes.

The “Beetlejuice” incident was resurfaced this fall in attack ads from a Democratic super PAC that invested $1.5 million in its effort to oust Boebert from Congress. 

Laubacher, 58, a former Republican who was running for office for the first time and pitched herself as a drama-free alternative, far out-raised the incumbent congresswoman — 13.7 million through mid-October compared with Boebert’s $1.2 million. 

Laubacher, of Highlands Ranch, said she was drawn to run for office because she was fed up with the extremes in both parties. She served in the U.S. Navy for 34 years, including a deployment to Afghanistan and working as an intelligence officer and a member of the National Security Council. She worked on South Asia policy under President Joe Biden, and retired in 2024 as a rear admiral.

On election night, Boebert, wearing an American flag sweater, held a watch party at a Windsor sports bar, where she danced as a country band played. The party shut down shortly after 10 p.m.

In Highlands Ranch, Laubacher supporters gathered at a pub in the town center, eating burgers and fries and watching election returns on multiple televisions. Democrats in the historically Republican-leaning county cheered as races across the country were called for Democrats, and the crowd hung on until midnight in the hopes that another round of election returns would be enough to call the race in Laubacher’s favor. 

Krischele Gill, a stay-at-home mother who knocked on more than 1,200 doors for Laubacher and stayed at the party until midnight, said she was impressed by Laubacher’s integrity, and the fact that she spent more time listening to people than talking about herself. 

“People are tired of the chaos that Boebert brings to the district and to Congress in general,” she said. “They see Eileen as the adult in the room. She is willing to step up and hold people accountable.” 

In a fiery debate during the campaign, Laubacher criticized Boebert for voting against four bills that support veterans, including the PACT Act to expand healthcare in the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for voting for the war in Iran. Boebert, meanwhile, accused Laubacher of being involved in the Hunter Biden laptop controversy, alleging she was part of a cover-up related to the emails found on the laptop of Biden’s son. Laubacher said she was not involved with the laptop investigation.

The candidates have starkly different views on immigration. Laubacher said there “should be a way for hardworking people who are paying taxes, such as those who have applied for asylum and those who previously had protected status, to try to become permanent residents.” Boebert said the Trump administration’s immigration policies are making the country safer and that, “If you’re in our country illegally, then you have to leave.”

Regarding Medicaid work requirements, Laubacher said she generally supports the requirements  but that the law’s paperwork demands are excessive and that people are losing healthcare coverage because of it. Boebert said work requirements should have been enacted a long time ago because “we do not need able-bodied adults sitting at home receiving benefits that should be going to our more vulnerable populations.”

Boebert didn’t get much super PAC help in her reelection bid. A group tied to the House Freedom Caucus, of which Boebert is a member, spent about $450,000 on the race on the congresswoman’s behalf.

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