Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert is projected to lose her reelection bid in Colorado, with CNN calling the state’s 4th Congressional District for Democrat Eileen Laubacher after a closely contested race.
The projection, announced Monday, November 9, marks another Democratic pickup in the House following the midterm elections and would bring an end to Boebert’s six-year tenure in Congress.
Laubacher, a retired two-star Navy rear admiral who served more than three decades in the military, led Boebert by a narrow margin as the final ballots continued to be counted.
The result is particularly notable because Boebert had moved from Colorado’s more competitive 3rd District to the traditionally Republican 4th District in 2024, seeking a more favorable electoral environment.
That strategy initially worked. Boebert won the seat by more than 11 percentage points in 2024.
But two years later, the district became the setting for another unexpectedly close election.
Laubacher campaigned heavily on affordability and economic concerns, while Boebert emphasized her conservative record and support for President Donald Trump.
Trump endorsed Boebert shortly before Election Day, describing her as a “MAGA Warrior.”
Their relationship, however, had not always been smooth.
Earlier in the year, Trump publicly criticized Boebert after she appeared alongside Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie, one of the president’s most persistent critics in Congress.
Trump called Boebert “dumb” and “weak-minded” over the appearance and threatened to withdraw his support before ultimately endorsing her.
Boebert also broke with Trump and House Republican leaders over the release of Jeffrey Epstein-related records, joining an effort to force greater disclosure.
Despite those occasional disagreements, she remained one of the Republican Party’s most recognizable Trump-aligned lawmakers.
Her congressional career began in 2020, when she defeated a five-term Republican incumbent in a primary before winning the general election.
She quickly became known for confrontational exchanges with Democrats and for her outspoken support of conservative causes.
During President Joe Biden’s 2022 State of the Union address, she interrupted his remarks, drawing criticism from lawmakers and observers.
In September 2023, Boebert was removed from a performance of the musical Beetlejuice in Denver after complaints about disruptive behavior. She later apologized.
The incident became a widely discussed controversy, but Boebert remained politically active and successfully moved to the 4th District the following year.
Her latest race presented a different challenge.
Laubacher, a retired senior military officer, raised substantially more campaign money than the incumbent and made the cost of living a central issue.
The race remained too close to call for several days after the November 3 election.
By Monday, CNN’s Decision Desk had projected Laubacher the winner, even as the final count and official certification remained outstanding.
A Libertarian candidate, Douglas Mangeris, also appeared on the ballot and received thousands of votes.
His presence attracted attention because the margin separating the two major-party candidates was relatively small.
However, the third-party vote total alone does not establish which candidate those voters would have supported in a two-person contest.
For Democrats, the projected result represents a pickup in a district that had long been considered favorable to Republicans.
For Boebert, it would mean losing the seat she moved to in hopes of securing her political future.
And for Laubacher, the projection places her on course to enter Congress as part of the incoming Democratic majority.
Boebert had not conceded as of Monday, and Colorado’s official certification process was still pending.
But CNN’s projection marks a significant turning point in a race that few expected to become such a close contest when the campaign began.
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