Lauren Boebert loses her 4th Congressional District seat to Democratic challenger Eileen Laubacher

HIGHLANDS RANCH — U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert has lost her reelection bid in the Colorado congressional district most favorable to Republicans, becoming one of the highest-profile victims of an election that upended the GOP across the country. 

The lighting rod Republican congresswoman, who served in Congress for six years through personal and political missteps that made for embarrassing headlines, was ousted by Eileen Laubacher, a moderate Democrat who was previously a Republican.

The race, separated by fewer than 4,000 votes, was called by The Associated Press at 12:53 p.m. on Friday, 10 days after the election, when Laubacher, a retired Navy rear admiral, had 48.8% and Boebert had 47.9% of the votes tallied. Douglas Mangeris of the Libertarian Party was in third place with 3.3%.

Laubacher’s victory marks only the second time since 1973 that a Democrat has won in Colorado’s 4th Congressional District, which spans the Eastern Plains into Douglas County and Loveland. With her win, just one Republican in the state’s congressional delegation — Rep. Jeff Hurd of Grand Junction — survived the blue wave, as Democrats flipped three other seats.

Just two years ago, Boebert, who had on-again-off-again political favor with President Donald Trump, beat her Democratic opponent in the 4th District by more than 11 percentage points.

The race dragged on for over a week as Boebert’s campaign waited for the last remaining votes to be counted, including military and overseas ballots and ballots with signature problems or other discrepancies that voters are able to fix after the election. 

Laubacher claimed victory Monday after CNN projected she would win the race. 

“This victory is historic,” she said in a news release. “But making history means nothing if we don’t make a difference. My focus is simple: lower costs, protect healthcare, strengthen rural communities, take on corruption in both parties, and hold Washington accountable.”

Laubacher, 58, 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 as 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.

Laubacher, 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.

On election night, Laubacher spoke to cheering supporters on a chilly rooftop patio of a Highlands Ranch pub, sounding hopeful.

“Integrity matters. Character matters. Truth matters, and public service should always be about what you can do for other people, not for what you do for yourself,” Laubacher said just after midnight on Nov. 4. “Those things were worth fighting for when we started.”

Boebert was first elected to represent the 4th District in 2024, after moving to Windsor. Before that, she represented the 3rd Congressional District in western Colorado for two terms.

Private polling obtained by The Sun showed Boebert, 39, was in for a tight race but that the 4th District, once considered solidly Republican, still favored the GOP.

However, continued personal issues for the congresswoman made for difficult headlines 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.

Earlier this year, Trump castigated Boebert for splitting with him on the release of files related to Jeffrey Epstien, the disgraced financier accused of sex crimes. Trump called Boebert “dumb” and “weak-minded” because she campaigned for U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican and a Trump critic.

But four days before the election — in the clearest sign the congresswoman was in trouble — he endorsed Boebert, calling her a “MAGA Warrior” in a social media post.

Two years ago, Boebert was reelected by 11.6 percentage points in the 4th District 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 accused of 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 from the 3rd District, where she had won reelection in 2022 by just 546 votes.

Boebert’s near-loss in 2022 was attributed to her blunders in Congress. She and her team feared the “Beetlejuice” incident would make running again in the 3rd District an impossibility, looking to the 4th District — and its more conservative electorate — as a political safety net.

But while the “Beetlejuice” drama didn’t pose much of a problem for Boebert in 2024, it 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. 

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.

On election night, Boebert encouraged supporters to have fun as they waited for more results to come in at a large sports bar in Windsor. As a country band played, she danced in front of the stage and posed for photos with people while also keeping a close eye on results, periodically checking a tablet computer at her table.

She told her supporters that God would remain in charge no matter who won and told the Exodus story about God splitting the Red Sea for the Israelites fleeing Egypt.

“Tonight I’m telling you no matter what happens in our country and in our state, you have the authority given unto you to go forward. You can split that Red Sea and walk through on dry land because God is still the way maker and we are his people when we are called to greatness,” she said.

In Highlands Ranch, Laubacher supporters gathered on election night at a pub in the town center, eating burgers and fries and watching election returns on multiple televisions.

Democrats in Douglas County cheered as races across the state and 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 late into the night, 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 the paperwork. 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.”

In an interview with 9News after Election Day, with her reelection in doubt, Boebert said she wasn’t surprised by the result. She said the war in Iran was in large part to blame.

“We absolutely made promises as a party that have not been upheld,” she said. “I have done everything that I can to uphold the promises that I make to my voters. I have complete peace about the job that I have done. I believe that me and my team did all that we could.”

Boebert vowed to continue in public service if she didn’t get reelected to Congress.

“I’m still a Coloradan, I’m still an American,” she told 9News. “We’re going to still keep fighting for this state.”

Colorado Sun staff writer Jesse Paul contributed to this report.