Republican U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert faces losing her congressional seat in Colorado’s 4th District, with Democrat Eileen Laubacher maintaining her lead as votes continue to be counted Wednesday evening.
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The race defies expectations in a district widely considered a safe Republican seat. Even though not all ballots have been counted, Laubacher’s lead jeopardizes Boebert’s political future.
“I couldn’t be more proud of what we accomplished,” Eileen Laubacher, the Democratic challenger, said at her election vigil.
Laubacher’s campaign appeared to be gaining momentum despite early expectations that the heavily Republican district would be difficult for a Democrat to win.
“They told us the district was too Republican,” Laubacher said.
Kyle Saunders, a political science professor at Colorado State University, said the results are far from what political analysts expected as Election Day approached.
“It’s a pretty safe district, and most people rated it probably R, so for this seat to have been contested it had to be a blue wave, or even a blue tsunami,” Saunders said.
“I’m not sure Boebert or the Republicans were prepared to take on this challenge,” he added.
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On her election night, Boebert acknowledged the uncertainty surrounding the race, but told supporters she wasn’t ready to give up.
“This isn’t the first time I’ve had to wait. I know the waiting game,” Boebert said.
She also reminded her supporters that ballots were still being counted and urged them not to lose hope.
“Look, you don’t start trying to sell your houses and move to Florida yet. OK, we still have to count some ballots here,” Boebert said.
“We’re winning all but three counties right now, and we’ll see. We’ll see,” she added.
Saunders said Boebert’s association with President Donald Trump could be a contributing factor to this surprisingly competitive race. However, he said the results also indicate an energetic Democratic electorate and potentially lower Republican turnout.
“Part of that indicates that Boebert is part of the problem, but there’s also this really energized Democratic electorate, and this idea that a lot of Republicans seem to have stayed home,” Saunders said.
Laubacher said his campaign was able to reach voters who previously supported Republicans or who had become disengaged from politics.
“Republicans who had never voted for a Democrat opened their doors and listened to us. Independents who had given up on politics decided to give it another chance,” Laubacher said.
Despite Laubacher’s lead, Saunders warned that there were still enough outstanding ballots to potentially change the outcome.
He believes Boebert will narrow the gap as additional votes are counted, but he ultimately predicted she would fail to win re-election.
For now, the race remains uncertain, with the outcome of Colorado’s 4th Congressional District still depending on remaining ballots.
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