Democrat Eileen Laubacher defeats Lauren Boebert in Colorado

Democrat Eileen Laubacher has defeated Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert in Colorado’s 4th Congressional District, ending the three-term lawmaker’s time in Congress after a race in one of the state’s most conservative seats. The margin was less than 1 percentage point, according to the Associated Press.

Laubacher, a retired Navy rear admiral and Afghanistan war veteran, served on the National Security Council during the Biden administration. She registered as a Democrat in 2025 and told Boebert during a debate that the Republican Party had become “nearly unrecognizable,” The Guardian reported. She campaigned on her decades of military and national security service.

“I’m honored by the trust the people of Colorado’s fourth district have placed in me,” Laubacher said in a statement. “This campaign was never about party labels. It was about putting people first.” She promised to work for residents who did not vote for her as well as those who did.

At an election-night gathering, Laubacher told supporters: “Integrity matters. Character matters. Truth matters, and public service should always be about what you can do for other people, not what you do for yourself,” according to The Colorado Sun, as cited by NBC News.

Boebert said after the election that “there was a lot of money dumped on my head.” She also blamed the Senate for failing to pass many Republican bills approved by the House, NBC News reported.

The district spans Colorado’s eastern plains and has long been a Republican stronghold. Boebert moved there for the 2024 election after winning re-election in the 3rd District by just 546 votes in 2022. She won her first race in the more Republican-leaning 4th District more easily. Boebert said she had left the 3rd District because outside money, including donations from Hollywood figures, was being used to try to take the seat from Republicans.

Before entering Congress, Boebert was a gun-rights activist and owned Shooters Grill in Rifle, Colorado. She defeated Republican Rep. Scott Tipton in a 2020 primary and became a prominent defender of Donald Trump. Their relationship later frayed over her push to release Justice Department files concerning Jeffrey Epstein. In November 2025, she joined three other Republicans and Democrats in signing a petition to force a vote on their release. She later campaigned with Rep. Thomas Massie, another Republican who pushed for the files’ release. Trump called Boebert “dumb” and “weak-minded” and threatened to withdraw his endorsement, but did not do so.

Boebert’s tenure also drew attention for disputes with fellow lawmakers and incidents outside Congress. She apologized in 2021 after video showed her suggesting that Rep. Ilhan Omar had been mistaken for a terrorist in a Capitol elevator; Omar said the elevator encounter Boebert described never happened. In 2023, Boebert and a date were escorted out of a Denver performance of “Beetlejuice” after complaints about their behavior. Boebert later apologized.

Weeks before the election, Boebert faced an ethics complaint alleging sexual relationships with three staffers and a payment to keep one silent, The Guardian reported. She denied the allegations, calling them “politically motivated.”