Lauren Boebert loses her Colorado House seat

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Col.) is among the many Republicans who lost in the historic 2026 midterm election night,

Boebert moved to a safer GOP district and appeared to have a harder time holding on. With more than 95 percent of the votes reported, she was a little over 0.7 percent votes away from overtaking Democrat Eileen Laubacher, the Colorado Times Recorder reported. That puts her outside of the mandatory recall.

The Colorado Fourth Congressional District was the state’s most Republican-leaning House seat. Boebert had a strong challenger in Democrat Eileen Laubacher, a retired two-star Navy rear admiral and former National Security Council official. Early returns put Laubacher ahead, but the race is not yet decided because Colorado counts ballots over several days.

Boebert ran as the incumbent MAGA fighter, playing up her nationally famous, combative and closely tied to Trump, with a campaign centered on border security, energy, deregulation and conservative cultural battles. Her strength was name recognition and a loyal base. Her weakness was a slew of controversies and a reputation for spectacle over governing.

Trump won this district in 2024 by 18 points.

Laubacher was an unusually strong fit for the district itself, and Boebert didn't appear to have GOP friends willing to swoop in to save her. Laubacher raised nearly $14 million, which was more than ten times Boebert’s roughly $1.2 million. It allowed Laubacher to run a solid and well-funded campaign in a district where Democrats normally cannot compete financially, much less at the ballot box.

Laubacher ran as a disciplined national-security moderate, focusing on competence, affordability, health care and ethical government. She avoided trying to out-MAGA Boebert, instead offering voters a credible alternative without asking them to abandon conservative instincts.

Boebert was underperforming in the district even in 2024. Trump Won the district by 20 percent while Boebert won it by 11.6 percent. So, if the underperformance persisted in a tougher national environment, it would put Boebert at an even greater risk.

Laubacher lives in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, with her husband and five children. She graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1990 with a degree in political science and served in the Navy for 34 years before retiring in 2024 as a two-star rear admiral, he website explains.

From October 2022 to May 2024, she served as the special assistant to President Biden and senior director for South Asia at the National Security Council. That role put her at the center of U.S. policy toward India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and the broader South Asia region.

The number worth looking at is in Douglas County. It is half the district by registration and typically runs with a 14-point Republican advantage. The Associated Press and New York Times showed Laubacher ahead by about 13 points with 88 percent of the votes in.