Republican congresswoman Lauren Boebert is projected to lose her seat in Colorado’s 4th Congressional District to Democrat Eileen Laubacher, in a closely contested race that remained unresolved for days after the US midterm elections.
CNN projected Laubacher’s victory on Monday, 9 November 2026. If the projection is borne out by the final count, the result will end Boebert’s time in the House of Representatives after three terms and give Democrats a seat long regarded as strongly Republican.
But a media projection is not an official declaration. Colorado’s figures remain unofficial pending the completion of counting and certification, and Boebert has not conceded.
What the latest Colorado figures show
The latest Colorado election figures independently checked by Fish 4 News show Laubacher on 185,923 votes (48.8%), Boebert on 182,686 (47.9%) and Libertarian candidate Douglas Mangeris on 12,605 (3.3%). That puts Laubacher ahead by 3,237 votes, a margin of roughly 0.85 percentage points.
The figures were recorded from the state election-night feed as of 7 November and continued to appear on results trackers on 9 November. They are not final certified results and could change as remaining ballots are processed.
Colorado law provides for an automatic recount when the difference between the top candidates is no more than half of one per cent of the leading candidate’s vote total. The margin in the verified figures is larger than that threshold, although the final position depends on the completed count.
Why the result matters
Colorado’s 4th District stretches across the state’s Eastern Plains and parts of the Front Range, including suburban communities south and east of Denver. It has been regarded as one of Colorado’s most Republican-leaning congressional districts.
Boebert moved from the more competitive 3rd District to contest the 4th in 2024. She won that election with 53.6% against Democrat Trisha Calvarese’s 42.0%. A Democratic victory in 2026 would reverse that result and return the district to Democratic representation for the first time since the 2008 election.
Who is Eileen Laubacher?
Laubacher is a retired US Navy rear admiral who spent more than three decades in military service. She also served as a senior director for South Asia on the White House National Security Council. Her campaign emphasised the cost of living, public service and constituent representation.
Boebert, elected to Congress in 2020, became a nationally prominent conservative lawmaker and ally of Donald Trump. She narrowly retained her previous seat by 546 votes in 2022 before switching districts for the 2024 election.
Could there still be a recount?
Boebert’s campaign has raised the possibility of a recount. Its lawyer, Scott Gessler, said the campaign was investigating what he described as unusual voting patterns and wanted every lawful vote counted accurately. The statement did not establish wrongdoing, and Fish 4 News has seen no independently verified evidence of irregularities capable of changing the result.
Until the remaining ballots are processed and the official result is certified, the distinction is important: CNN has projected a Laubacher win, but the state has not yet certified a winner.
Sources
- CNN report, 9 November: projected result
- Colorado Secretary of State election figures reproduced by SaveYourState
- CBS Colorado: recount threshold and earlier vote count
- USA Today: Boebert campaign statement and counting status
- Ballotpedia: district election history
- US Congress portrait licence (public domain) and US Navy portrait licence (public domain)
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