Article Contributed by Gratefulweb
Published on 2026-10-24
Eileen Laubacher, retired U.S. Navy rear admiral. Photo: U.S. Navy / Wikimedia Commons. Use of this photograph does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Navy or Department of Defense.
Grateful Web endorses Eileen Laubacher for Colorado’s 4th Congressional District. After years of Lauren Boebert’s inflammatory politics and deeply disappointing environmental record, we believe Colorado deserves a representative who brings greater preparation, discipline and judgment to the job.
Laubacher offers substantial qualifications. She served in the Navy for 34 years, retiring as a rear admiral. A U.S. Naval Academy graduate, her career included command responsibilities, a deployment to Afghanistan, service as a defense attaché in India and work at the National Security Council.
Those assignments required sustained attention to difficult problems, cooperation with people holding different perspectives and accountability for consequential decisions. In our judgment, that experience makes her far better prepared to meet the responsibilities of this office.
Boebert has had years to show Colorado what kind of representative she intends to be. Her public conduct—from heckling during a State of the Union address to inflammatory attacks on colleagues—has repeatedly demonstrated a willingness to turn the work of government into a spectacle.
We expect more. An elected representative should be able to argue forcefully without degrading the office, disagree without dehumanizing others and pursue results without making every dispute a performance.
Our strongest objection, however, concerns substance. The League of Conservation Voters’ 2025 National Environmental Scorecard gave Boebert a 0% score. The score represents an environmental advocacy organization’s assessment of selected congressional votes. For a publication that values conservation, public health and the natural world, it is an unacceptable record.
Colorado’s environment is inseparable from its economy and its communities. Farms depend on water. Outdoor businesses depend on healthy landscapes. Children deserve clean air. Future generations deserve leaders who take conservation and climate seriously, including when doing so requires standing up to powerful interests.
We want a representative who approaches those obligations with care. Boebert’s record gives us little confidence that she will.
Rural health care provides another important distinction. During the candidates’ October debate, Laubacher supported restoring Affordable Care Act subsidies and questioned whether the federal response to struggling rural hospitals would meet their needs. Boebert defended her vote for the One Big Beautiful Bill and emphasized its rural hospital funding.
These disagreements deserve close attention. For families on the Eastern Plains, the future of a local hospital can determine how far someone must travel for treatment, whether a community can retain medical professionals and how quickly help arrives in an emergency. We welcome Laubacher’s emphasis on those practical consequences.
Laubacher has presented herself as someone willing to work across political divisions. Her background as a former Republican who later became a Democrat also makes clear that this choice need not be a test of lifelong party loyalty. Voters can assess the candidates on their qualifications, priorities and conduct.
We do not expect to agree with Laubacher on every issue. We do expect her to listen, explain her decisions and treat public service as a responsibility that extends to everyone in the district.
Grateful Web has spent more than three decades celebrating creativity and community. Those values lead us to care about how people are treated, whether shared resources are protected and whether our leaders help solve problems. We believe Laubacher offers a much stronger foundation for that work.
Lauren Boebert has had her opportunity. It is time for a change. Eileen Laubacher is our choice for Colorado’s 4th Congressional District.
Learn more at EileenForColorado.com. Visit GoVoteColorado.gov for official voter information.
