Democrat Laubacher declares victory against Republican Rep. Boebert in Colorado’s 4th District

Democrat Eileen Laubacher declared victory Monday over Republican U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert in the race to represent Colorado’s 4th Congressional District. 

The Associated Press had yet to call the race Monday, when Laubacher had 48.8% of the vote over Boebert’s 47.9%. Libertarian candidate Douglas Mangeris had 3.3% of the vote. The AP estimated 98% of votes in the race were counted at the time.

“Over 17 months, I traveled 40,000 miles across all 21 counties. The message was clear: Coloradans are tired of political games, broken promises, and being ignored by Washington,” Laubacher said in a statement. “They want someone who will fight for them and deliver results.”

Laubacher attended orientation for new members of Congress Monday.

Scott Gessler, an attorney for Boebert’s campaign who represented President Donald Trump during a lawsuit that sought to remove him from the ballot in 2024, said in a statement last week that the campaign will fight to ensure every “legal vote” is counted, and it was “investigating some very unusual voting patterns.” Boebert voted against certifying results from the 2020 election, which former President Joe Biden won.

Boebert’s campaign did not immediately respond to Newsline’s request for comment.

The 4th District, which includes most of Douglas County and the Eastern Plains, has in recent years been considered Colorado’s most conservative district. While the district was previously considered safely Republican, some analyses of the Boebert-Laubacher race recently put the district in the “leans Republican” category. 

National Democrats looking to flip the district named it a top priority this election. The last Democrat to represent the district was former U.S. Rep. Betsy Markey, who was elected in 2008. She served one term.

Laubacher, a first-time candidate, is a retired Navy rear admiral and former National Security Council official. She was a longtime Republican but switched her party affiliation, first to unaffiliated, and then to Democratic in 2024. She defended that action at a debate against Boebert by saying her belief in personal liberties is currently found in the Democratic Party and that the GOP she historically supported is “nearly unrecognizable.”

Boebert, of Windsor, was first elected to represent the 3rd District on the Western Slope, but she moved across the state after two terms when she nearly lost reelection in 2022. She is a longtime ally of President Donald Trump, but a rift arose earlier this year when Boebert campaigned alongside outgoing Kentucky U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, whom the president targeted for leading efforts to force a vote on releasing the Epstein files last year. 

Two other congressional seats in Colorado previously held by Republicans flipped to Democrats in last week’s election as part of a “blue tsunami” that swept the state and the country. Republican Rep. Gabe Evans lost his race to Democrat Manny Rutinel in the 8th District, and Republican Rep. Jeff Crank lost his race to Democrat Jessica Killin in the 5th District. With Boebert’s loss, the state’s congressional delegation will favor Democrats 7-1.