Lauren Boebert faces steep cost and slim odds in bid for recount

Democrat Eileen Laubacher defeated incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert in Colorado’s 4th Congressional District on Tuesday.

The Colorado Secretary of State’s office reported that Laubacher leads Boebert by 3,237 votes. CNN called the race at 1 p.m. on Nov. 9 after nearly a week of counting. As of that time, 98% of ballots had been processed. Laubacher, a former Rear Admiral in the Navy who served for 34 years, will become the district’s first Democratic member of Congress since Betsy Markey in 2008.

Boebert’s staff requested a recount on Nov. 5, citing unusual voting patterns. Scott Gessler, a former Republican Secretary of State, stated the team is investigating these patterns. He added that the campaign expects the election to go to a recount one way or another. The campaign noted that a significant number of votes remained outstanding and that ballot returns had been trending in Boebert’s direction.

State law requires an automatic recount when the margin of victory is 0.5% or less. Boebert’s margin is currently double that threshold. However, she may request a recount between Nov. 13 and Nov. 25. Robert Preuhs, chair of the Political Science Department at Metropolitan State University of Denver, estimates the cost at around $100,000. The expense increases the later the request is made within the 22-day window.

The campaign’s finances are tight. Democratic supporters spent approximately $12 million on Laubacher’s campaign, while Boebert spent $1.1 million. As of Oct. 14, Boebert’s campaign had about $270,000 remaining. The last time a Colorado campaign paid for a recount was in 2022, when Tina Peters spent $250,000 to recount her loss to Pam Anderson. Peters recovered only 13 of her 180,059 total votes.

Political analysts doubt the recount will change the outcome. Dick Wadhams, a longtime Republican political consultant, said he cannot cite a single example of a recount altering a result with a margin in the thousands. He described the move as a matter of optics, showing Boebert is not willing to concede. Preuhs suggested the fight may be positioning Boebert for a future bid, noting that Laubacher is vulnerable in a district that the Cook Partisan Voting Index recently recategorized from solid Republican to leans Republican.

The delay in counting was attributed to overseas ballots and optical scanning errors. The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act allows overseas military and federal employees to mail ballots postmarked by Election Day. These votes often arrive later. Preuhs said these overseas votes likely lean Boebert but are insufficient to close the 3,237-vote gap.

Boebert’s loss marks the second time her re-election bid came close to a recount. In 2022, she won Colorado’s 3rd District by 500 votes, forcing a concession from Democrat Adam Frisch. She switched to the open 4th District seat in 2024. Laubacher changed her party affiliation from Republican to unaffiliated in 2024 and to Democrat in 2025. During a debate on Oct. 12, Laubacher said she changed parties because her view of what they represented changed.

Wadhams noted that Laubacher won Douglas County by 21,000 votes, indicating inherent weakness in Boebert’s candidacy. He credited the anti-Trump vote and voter fatigue with the chaos surrounding Boebert’s scandals, including allegations involving Kid Rock and staffers. Laubacher campaigned on affordability and opposing the Iran war, holding about 100 meet-and-greets. Boebert skipped town halls, citing safety concerns.

Boebert’s team will decide whether to file a recount request by Nov. 25. If the campaign proceeds, it must pay the estimated $100,000 fee. The certified votes will stand unless a federal lawsuit is filed. In a Nov. 4 interview with 9News, Boebert said the race does not define her and that she will continue moving faith to faith.