The Democratic nominee for Colorado's Fourth Congressional District, Eileen Laubacher, routinely claims that she's more in tune with the district—the most conservative in the state—than incumbent Rep. Lauren Boebert (R., Colo.). Yet fewer than 10 percent of Laubacher's individual campaign contributions came from local donors, and the vast majority, in fact, don't even live in Colorado, a Washington Free Beacon review of campaign finance records shows.
Laubacher has said that Boebert's decisions "don't reflect what many people in this district need right now" and that the Republican doesn't appeal to her constituents. "The job is in the name, Representative. Service is core to who I am," Laubacher told the Coloradan when asked how her approach in office would differ from her opponents. "People are tired of representatives like Lauren Boebert who have been in DC for too long and have forgotten the needs of their district."
Laubacher's massive 10-1 fundraising advantage over Boebert, however, is in part thanks to donors who don't live in Colorado's fourth district. The bulk of the $10.3 million Laubacher raked in through June came from supporters whose contributions are so small their identities can remain hidden. But if the itemized donations are any indication, Laubacher would represent very few of them.
Of the nearly $2.8 million in itemized donations, 75 percent came from other states, the Free Beacon's review found. In fact, just $272,000, or less than 10 percent, came from donors who live in zip codes that sit in the fourth district—and that's likely an overestimate, since many of those zip codes bleed into neighboring districts.
Much of that money comes from liberal strongholds such as California: Californians came in just behind Coloradans in terms of contributors to Laubacher's campaign, comprising 15 percent of her donations. From within the Centennial State, money flowed from deep blue cities like Denver, Boulder, and Fort Collins, as well as from Steamboat Springs, a ritzy ski resort town on the other side of Colorado.
Laubacher's campaign manager, Taylor Gillespie, told the Free Beacon in a statement, "Eileen's 34 years of service to our country are in stark contrast to Lauren Boebert who is in this for herself. That's why Eileen has more than six times the number of Colorado donors than Lauren Boebert."
That is technically true since Laubacher has far more donors than Boebert, and the proportion of out-of-state donors to Laubacher is far greater than to Boebert. Colorado donors make up less than a quarter of Laubacher's contributors, while roughly half of Boebert's donors—and about half of her total fundraising haul—come from the Centennial State.
Details of Laubacher's donors follow the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's announcement that it was adding Colorado's fourth district to its "target list" of "districts in play," meaning that she will receive strategic support from the group. The Democratic establishment has already started dumping money into her campaign, including a $5,000 contribution from VoteVets, a super PAC aligned with Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.).
The fourth district, which Republicans have represented since 2011, covers Colorado's solidly conservative eastern plains and borders four red states. Boebert handily won her primary and general elections in 2024 after moving from the third district, but there's a reason Democrats see her as vulnerable. Her nearly 12-point lead in November 2024 was considered an underperformance—her predecessor, Ken Buck, won with a margin twice as large in the prior election—and she just managed to eke out a win by less than half a point in 2022 while running in the third district, even though it was considered a safe seat for Republicans.
Laubacher's massive cash advantage, however, isn't necessarily a death knell for Boebert. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report still rates the race as solidly Republican, and incumbents typically enjoy advantages like name recognition.
Laubacher will have to overcome her own issues that will likely upset liberal voters. She was a registered Republican for decades and only became a Democrat on March 27, 2025, a month before she declared her candidacy for Congress.
That timing spurred a lawsuit from a primary opponent, Trish Calvarese. The Colorado Democratic Party bylaws require anyone seeking office to be "affiliated with the party for at least twelve consecutive months prior to the date the assembly begins." Calvarese accused party chair Shad Murib of pushing the district assemblies back a day so Laubacher would meet that requirement.
Laubacher's ties to Lockheed Martin could also pose an issue with liberals, who have accused defense contractors of war profiteering. Her husband holds stakes in Lockheed Martin and has earned income from Lockheed Martin, according to her personal financial disclosure, though it doesn't show how much he was paid.
Gillespie did not comment on Laubacher's party registration or on her husband's apparent Lockheed Martin employment.
