What We Know About Lauren Boebert's Loss in Colorado's 4th District

Lauren Boebert, the three-term Republican congresswoman from Colorado's 4th District, lost her re-election bid to Democrat Eileen Laubacher by a margin under 1%, according to the Associated Press figures cited by The Guardian. The result ends Boebert's run in a seat Republicans have held as one of Colorado's safest for years.

What happened in Colorado's 4th District?

The 4th District covers the state's eastern plains and has functioned as a Republican stronghold in recent election cycles, according to The Guardian's reporting on the race. Boebert, a gun-rights advocate and born-again Christian who has previously described herself as a fan of QAnon theories, sought a fourth term in Congress from this district after winning her 2024 primary there. The AP's call puts Laubacher ahead by less than one percentage point, a gap narrow enough that it underscores how competitive a nominally safe Republican seat became in 2026.

How close was the margin, and what does sub-1% mean in this district?

A margin under 1% in a district Republicans have carried comfortably in prior cycles signals a shift large enough to flip the outcome without the race being an outright landslide for either party. The AP's margin figure, as relayed by The Guardian, is the only vote-share number available in current reporting; no county-by-county breakdown or turnout total has been published in the source material reviewed for this piece. That means the full data picture — which counties moved, how absentee versus in-person votes split, and whether a formal recount threshold applies under Colorado law — is not yet established in available reporting.

Who is Eileen Laubacher?

Laubacher is a retired two-star Navy rear admiral who was deployed to Afghanistan and later served on the National Security Council under the Biden administration, according to The Guardian. She registered as a Democrat only in 2025, telling Boebert during a debate that the Republican Party had become "nearly unrecognizable," per the same report. Her campaign centered on her decades of military and national-security service rather than on traditional partisan messaging. In her victory statement quoted by The Guardian, Laubacher said: "I'm honored by the trust the people of Colorado's fourth district have placed in me. This campaign was never about party labels. It was about putting people first." She added a message to voters who backed Boebert: "To those who didn't [vote for me], I'll fight just as hard for you and hope to earn your support."

Why did Boebert move to this district in the first place?

Boebert switched to Colorado's 4th District in 2024 after narrowly winning her previous race in the 3rd District, and both candidates in this year's contest relocated to the 4th in recent years, The Guardian reported. Boebert has said her move followed what she called "dark money" flowing from Hollywood into the 3rd District race to "steal" the seat, telling reporters, according to The Guardian: "It's coming from Hollywood … when you have Barbra Streisand coming in and donating to the Democrat." Boebert, in turn, accused Laubacher of moving to the district and switching parties specifically to run for Congress — a charge Laubacher's campaign did not directly address in the material reviewed.

What are national Democrats saying about the result?

Suzan DelBene, chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, framed the loss in blunt terms in a statement congratulating Laubacher, saying: "Lauren Boebert's sideshow is over," as quoted by The Guardian. No parallel statement from the National Republican Congressional Committee or from Boebert herself appears in the available source material, so the Republican response to the defeat is not yet documented in reporting reviewed for this piece.

What to watch next

• Whether Colorado election officials certify the sub-1% margin without triggering an automatic recount, and on what timeline.
• Whether Boebert, who has not yet publicly responded in available reporting, concedes, requests a recount, or signals a future run.
• Whether national Republican committees comment on losing a seat long considered safe, and how that shapes 2026 post-election analysis of rural and eastern-plains House races.
• Whether Laubacher's national-security-focused, cross-party messaging becomes a model Democratic strategists point to in other traditionally Republican districts.