March 1st, 2026 Len’s Political Note #793 Eileen Laubacher Colorado 04
2026 General Election
I recommend Eileen Laubacher to you. Running in an improbable district for a Democratic win, she is the Democrat most likely to win. Helped by being ex-military in a conservative district, Eileen Laubacher also has resources. So far, she has raised $6.5 million for this campaign, spent $4 million to gain an early advantage, and begun 2026 with $2.5 million in her campaign bank account. All of this is far more than her appealing primary opponent Trisha Calverese or, more importantly, than incumbent Lauren Boebert, who began 2026 with $200,000.
Yahoo News describes Colorado 04 and its incumbent: “Of Colorado’s eight congressional districts, none is more reliably conservative than the one that covers that vast Eastern Plains. Of Colorado’s eight members of the U.S. House, none is more far right than the person who represents that district.” Yahoo news description is accurate for 2026. Colorado may join the mid-decade redistricting scramble that Donald Trump initiated when he urged Texas to redistrict to get him five additional Republican Congressional seats. But that change will occur, if it does occur, for 2028.
Lauren Boebert chose Colorado 04 as her safe haven. She had lived in and run her restaurant, Shooters Grill, in Colorado 03 – on the western side of the mountains. In 2020, she successfully primaried a moderate Republican and then won the general election 51-45, doing slightly less well than Donald Trump did in the district. Trump won Colorado 03 by 53-45. For context – Donald Trump carried Colorado 04 by 58-39 in 2020.
In 2022, Adam Frisch, a wealthy businessman from Aspen ran against Boebert arguing she was too extreme and too embarrassing. The redistricted Colorado 03 had become slightly less Republican. She survived that election, but not by much – winning 50.1 to 49.9.
After Adam Frisch raised $17 million for the 2024 campaign, Boebert skedaddled. She announced she would run for the open Republican seat in Colorado 04. That shift worked well for the Republicans. The Colorado 03 Republican nominee, Jeff Hurd, was elected to replace Boebert 51-46 while Donald Trump did slightly better than the Congressional candidate. Trump carried Colorado 03 by 54-44.
Over in Colorado 04, Lauren Boebert coasted. She won the 2024 election by a 54-42 margin. She trailed Donald Trump, though. He won the district by a 58-40 margin.
It is possible that Lauren Boebert’s lackadaisical fund raising for 2026 reflects her confidence that nothing and no one could remove her from her seat in Congress. She does not appear to have a serious primary opponent.
In deeply conservative Colorado 04, Eileen Laubacher is a threat to Lauren Boebert’s ability to remain in Congress. At a time when confidence in Donald Trump as President is. Waning and a Blue Wave is looming, a Democrat who is acceptable in a conservative district could win this election.
Eileen Laubacher is from a Navy family. Her grandfather was a frogman in World War II. Those predecessors to the SEALS specialized in underwater reconnaissance and demolition. Her father, Michael Hoskins, was a graduate of the Naval Academy. During his career, he had nine different commands. He retired as a Vice Admiral and as the Naval Inspector General. In retirement, he served as Director of the Stockdale Center for Ethical Leadership at the Naval Academy.
Here is an aside. That Stockdale name seemed familiar, so I looked it up. James Bond Stockdale (yes, James Bond was his name) who the Center for Ethical Leadership honors for his military service, was the vice presidential candidate with Ross Perot in their independent run for the presidency in 1992. End of aside
For Eileen Laubacher it was the parades that first got her interested. From preschool on, she wanted to be in the Navy. She planned to attend the Naval Academy at a time when women could not. She went to the Naval Academy and remained in the Navy for 34 years. For the first half of her career, she was an intelligence officer – working in underseas surveillance in Bermuda, then in intelligence collection in Virginia, and, after graduating from the Intelligence Training Center, working in American intelligence in the United Kingdom.
In 1998, Eileen Laubacher left active duty and joined the reserves, moving to Colorado where her sister lived. In the reserves, she served with the US Space Command and more while in the States. Deployed to Afghanistan, she was in charge of coordination among the military branches. Subsequently, she became the senior US defense official in India from 2019 to 2022. After returning home, she was named an Assistant to the President and Senior Director for South Asia of the National Security Council in Washington. She retired as a two-star rear admiral. She and her husband had five children who, when she was home in Colorado, she home schooled. An extraordinary career for the little girl who liked parades.
That little girl did not envision a political career for herself. Eileen Laubacher puts it this way: “I was 17-years-old the first time I took an oath to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. But I have never felt as much of a threat to our country, our Constitution, our very democracy, as I do at this time. And Lauren Boebert is one of those threats.”
Eileen Laubacheer says the people of Colorado need to fix Washington in order to solve their state’s problems. Her first goal is to fix Washington by:
Enacting term limits
Banning stock trading for members of Congress
Limiting the influence of lobbyists
Ending dark money spending and limiting corporate spending on campaigns
Managing the federal budget responsibly
Protecting voting rights and ensuring fair elections
Focusing on common sense solutions and avoiding show-boating on issues
Eileen Laubacher’s second goal is to reduce costs by
Cracking down on price gouging
Cutting the prices of prescription drugs
Holding utilities responsible for “sky-rocketing” prices
Providing tax relief for working people
Reducing inflation with common sense policies
Her third goal has to do with health care. She would
Keep rural hospitals open
Expand the use of telehealth
Protect women’s access to abortions, IVF, and birth control
Make sure that every Coloradan can get the health care they need without going broke.
Eileen Laubacher has more goals on her website, though she does not use the website to address why Lauren Boebert is a threat to the constitution. It is possible to identify a couple of instances when Boebert was dangerous:
She tweeted the locations of Speaker Nancy Pelosi during the January 6 insurrection.
Along with other members of the House Freedom Caucus, she called for more severe responses to demonstrations against ICE in Minnesota.
Predominantly, though, Boebert has been just more embarrassing than dangerous. She might be described as an ineffectual Member of Congress whose behavior and statements are an embarrassment to her constituents and to the country. Here are a few of those embarrassments:
She and a boyfriend were kicked out of a Colorado movie theater for singing along loudly, vaping, and groping each other.
She falsely claimed a Colorado school district put litter boxes in children’s toilets in response to children who “identified as cats.”
At a religious service, she announced she was tired of this separation of church and state junk which, she added, was not in the constitution.
She falsely accused a New York judge who presided over Trump’s criminal case of being corrupt.
When she missed a Congressional vote on the debt ceiling, she claimed it was a “no show” protest, but a CNN camera showed her running and failing to make the deadline for voting.
She described African-American Congressman Al Green as having a “pimp cane.”
She falsely claimed that Muslim Congresswoman Ilhan Omar is a terrorist.
Put some of your resources into this effort. DONATE to Eileen Laubacher’s campaign. This could be a big win.
Competitive races in Colorado and adjacent states
Colorado 03 It is possible that entrepreneur Alex Kelloff could defeat incumbent Republican Jeff Hurd. He would be a more likely winner if Hurd’s Republican primary opponent, former State Party Chair Hope Scheppelman were to be the nominee. She might be the nominee. Donald Trump recently switched his endorsement to her because Hurd was insufficiently supportive of tariffs. DONATE to Alex Kelloff’s campaign.
Colorado 04. In today’s piece, I suggest that Retired Rear Admiral Eileen Laubacher is worth investing in to defeat the notorious incumbent Lauren Boebert. Boebert has to be thought of as the favorite, but less of a favorite against Eileen Laubacher than against the other Democratic candidate Trisha Calverese. DONATE to Eileen Laubacher’s campaign.
Colorado 05. Formerly the Chief of Staff for the First Gentleman, Doug Emhoff, Jessica Killin has a reasonable chance to defeat incumbent Republican Jeff Crank. DONATE TO Jessica Killin’s campaign. See Len’s Political Note #768.
Colorado 08. This district will be competitive, but right now there are several Democrats trying to be the nominee.
Neighboring states:
Nebraska:
Nebraska US Senate. Independent and labor leader Dan Osborn is leading the way in a movement of independent candidates with whom, in his case and some other cases, state Democratic parties cooperate. He ran a surprisingly respectable race for the senate in 2024. The polls indicate this is a toss-up race as Dan Osborn tries to flip the Senate seat held by multimillionaire Republican Pete Ricketts. DONATE to Dan Osborn’s campaign. See Len’s Political Note #765.
Nebraska Governor. Former State Senator Lynne Walz is running to replace incumbent governor Jim Pillen who is also the Chair of the Pillen Family Farms. DONATE to Lynn Walz’ campaign.
Nebraska 01 Former State Department official Chris Backemeyer is seeking to flip this seat now held by Republican Mike Flood, owner of multiple radio stations. Flood insisted, in a Town Hall, that he supports Elon Musk and DOGE. DONATE to Chris Backemeyer’s campaign.
Nebraska 02. State Senator John Cavanaugh leads in the polls. Businesswoman Denise Powell leads the financial race in this open Republican district which Democrats have a decent chance of flipping.
Kansas:
Kansas Governor. State Senator Ethan Corson can continue Democratic leadership in Kansas, replacing term limited Democratic Governor Laura Kelly. DONATE to Ethan Corson’s campaign. See Len’s Political Note #776.
Kansas Attorney General. Former cop, leader in the national effort against drunk driving, Chris Mann lost to extreme anti-immigrant activist and current Republican Attorney General Kris Kobach in 2022 by a 51-49 margin. DONATE to Chris Mann’s campaign. See Len’s Political Note #752.
Kansas 02. Retired Army Pilot Dan Coover is running to unseat incumbent Dereck Schmidt. DONATE to Dan Coover’s campaign.
Kansas 03. Sharice Davids, one of the few Native Americans in Congress, grows more secure each year she is reelected. A leader among moderate Democrats in Congress, Sharice Davids is, nevertheless, generally considered vulnerable. DONATE to Sharice Davids’ campaign.
New Mexico:
New Mexico 02 Gabe Vasquez was elected as a kind of blue collar environmentalist, an orientation he has sustained despite the discovery of oil and gas fields in his district. DONATE to support his re-election in New Mexico’s only swing district. See Len’s Political Note #755.
