Republican Colorado Representative Lauren Boebert still hasn’t given up on her attempt to keep her seat representing Colorado’s 4th Congressional District.
As of press time, about 98% of votes have been tallied, with Boebert close behind her Democratic opponent, Eileen Laubacher, 47.9% to 48.8%. The race is too close to call — Boebert won her congressional bid in 2022 by a mere 546-vote lead — and the embattled congresswoman says her victory could lie with mail-in and overseas votes.
Lauren Boebert. Image Credit: Gage Skidmore.
Boebert Blames the Senate and Republican Messaging for GOP’s Midterm Rout
With CNN already projecting Boebert to lose her re-election bid, the Colorado representative offered a laundry list of reasons the GOP suffered the staggering midterm defeat.
“A lot of it was the Senate, so I mean there’s a lot of variables here,” Boebert said, adding, “A lot of it was messaging. A lot of it was us not passing good enough legislation.” She also stated that Republicans were “too moderate” to have won the election.
The Colorado Representative, seen as a close ally of President Donald Trump, also said that she was “very frustrated with the war” but stopped short of blaming the chief executive.
Boebert, who moved to represent Colorado’s more conservative 4th District to maximize her political longevity, had no notes for herself on what may have caused such a close race in a very conservative district where both she and President Trump won handily last time.
Instead, one of her campaign lawyers, Scott Gessler, said they were looking into “some very unusual voting patterns” but did not elaborate.
Safe Seat No More
Boebert, who has been plagued by alleged scandals in the past, is dangerously close to losing her seat to Laubacher, a retired Navy rear admiral.
The most recent ballot count has Laubacher leading Boebert by 3,237 votes.
Lauren Boebert Giving A Speech. Creative Commons Photo.
Given her team’s claims of election irregularities, Laubacher’s lead is well above the 931-vote threshold that would trigger an automatic recount—although candidates still have the right to request one, albeit at their own expense.
Boebert also suffered from lackluster fundraising, raising only $1.2 million against Laubacher’s roughly $14 million.
Despite her still-staunch support for the president, Boebert has also lost some of her shine within the GOP—at one time, the president called her “dumb” and “weak-minded” just months before endorsing her re-election run.
Too Moderate? Not Really
In contrast to Boebert’s “too moderate” view of the Republican Party, GOP members elected Jim Jordan as House Minority Leader for the incoming Congress. Jordan beat House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, 106 to 73, in internal voting. South Dakota Senator John Thune remains the GOP leader in the Senate.
Minnesota Representative Tom Emmer kept his position as whip, and Michigan Representative Lisa McClain was selected as Republican Conference Chair.
Jordan, who currently chairs the influential Judiciary Committee, has long defended the president and his policies.
He vowed to fight Democrats in the 120th Congress, set to begin next year, where liberals will hold majorities in both chambers.
“When Democrats offer more government, we’ll offer more freedom, and we will bring that fight in committee, on the floor, and on the stump every single day,” Jordan said.
Post-Midterms, Republicans Take a Hard Look at Themselves
Lauren Boebert in 2025. Creative Commons Image.
Other GOP members have a more sobering, introspective view of the party’s midterm loss.
“Democrats didn’t win,” Utah Senator John Curtis said in an interview. “Republicans lost because we didn’t learn the lessons from 2 years ago.”
In a blog post after the midterms, Curtis bemoaned the lack of relief for Americans from “the reckless Biden years” brought about by a “hastily planned war.”
“Instead of enjoying a restoration of order and integrity in our government, they read headline after headline of scandals, incompetence, and corruption,” Curtis wrote. “Instead of economic stability and fiscal prudence, they saw the public debt balloon past $40 trillion,” he added.
Curtis also pointed to Trump’s secretary of state, Marco Rubio, as a good benchmark of what the Republican Party should aspire to.
“If you look at a Marco Rubio, you can see inklings of what I’ve tried to articulate,” Curtis said.
About the Author: Tim Ramos
Tim Ramos has written for various publications, corporations, and organizations, covering everything from finance, politics, travel, entertainment, and sports – in Asia and the U.S. for more than 10 years.
