Democrat Eileen Laubacher defeats Lauren Boebert in House race

More than a week after Election Day, the final votes have been tallied for Colorado's 4th Congressional District. Colorado Democrat Eileen Laubacher has defeated incumbent Republican Congresswoman Lauren Boebert to represent the 4th Congressional District, CBS News projected.   

The race was very close, with just 1% of the vote separating the two candidates by the time the race was projected, 10 days after Election Day. 

Earlier this week, Laubacher claimed victory over Boebert, even as thousands of votes separated the two candidates. 

Boebert talked to reporters on the steps of the U.S. Capitol on Monday night, saying that all the ballots had yet to be counted. 

"We've been curing ballots for over a week, and you know we... we need to make sure that every vote counts and every voice is heard. We still have military and overseas ballots that are coming in, and we'll see what that number is," said Boebert.     

Laubacher is a retired two-star rear admiral in the Navy who worked on the National Security Council under President Biden. The Highlands Ranch resident used to be a Republican and then changed her party affiliation. She has described herself as a common-sense candidate who wants to get things done. She said her top priorities were keeping costs down, fighting corruption, and improving rural healthcare access.    

Laubacher was at the U.S. Capitol on Monday in Washington, D.C., along with other newly-elected members of the 120th Congress for the first day of New Member Orientation after Democrats flipped both chambers in the midterm elections.    

The district spans the eastern third of the state of Colorado and also includes part of Douglas County, located south of Denver, and Loveland, in Northern Colorado.

Boebert previously served two terms in the state's 3rd Congressional District before switching districts and winning in the 4th with 53.6% of the vote in 2024.

The outspoken Republican recently faced some challenges, including when a Weld County judge granted the congresswoman a temporary protection order against a man who she said is spreading lies about her and her staff. David Wheeler, who lives in North Carolina, has made claims that Boebert had sexual relationships with three of her staff members and arranged a $200,000 payment to one former aide to keep the alleged involvement quiet.

Boebert did not face a challenger in the primary election earlier this year.