New York: Eileen Laubacher, a former US Navy rear admiral who served as a defence attaché at the embassy in New Delhi, has defeated a fiery Republican hardliner in the midterm elections to Congress that have turned into a Democratic tsunami.
Democrat Laubacher was declared the winner Friday (local time) from a House of Representatives constituency in Colorado, ousting Lauren Boebert, a Republican with the reputation of a gadfly.
Laubacher was the defence attache at the New Delhi embassy from 2019 to 2022, and then became special assistant to President Joe Biden while also serving as the senior director for South Asia on the National Security Council before she retired in 2024.
At the embassy, she was involved with India and the US increasing defence cooperation, signing the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA) for sharing geospatial and satellite data for targeting and navigation accuracy.
The two countries also launched during her tenure a defence technology and trade initiative for jointly developing and producing armaments,
Although she was ahead by only about 3,000 votes, Laubacher had turned around the constituency, which was one of the brightest red Republican electoral fortresses that had elected Boebert by a 24 per cent margin in 2024.
“Our founders expected representatives to serve and go back home,” Boebert said on X, conceding defeat. “So I’m home, I am happy, I have peace, and this is not the last you’ll be hearing from me.”
Laubacher had been a registered Republican till last year, when she switched to the Democratic Party, and ran as a centrist mindful of the constituency’s history.
Declaring victory, she said, “I’ll work with anyone and everyone, including President (Donald) Trump, Republicans, and Democrats to get things done for Colorado.”
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She followed her grandfather, a Navy diver, and her father, a vice admiral, into the Navy and was promoted to rear admiral while serving at the New Delhi Embassy.
She worked in Navy intelligence and had done a stint in Afghanistan.
Boebert had been a staunch supporter of Trump but broke with him by supporting the Democratic Party demand for releasing the government files relating to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who socialised at the highest levels of government and business.
She made headlines when she and a male friend were thrown out of a theatre for disturbing a performance by singing loudly, smoking an electronic cigarette, and insulting staff.
She later apologised for her behaviour, but Laubacher turned that episode into a campaign video, questioning her seriousness.
