Former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, a Republican who broke with President Donald Trump before campaigning extensively for former Vice President Kamala Harris last year, announced on Tuesday he is running for the state’s governorship as a Democrat.
Duncan, who will have to compete in an increasingly crowded Democratic primary, is pitching himself as an eminently electable candidate with experience battling Trump. But he’s almost certain to come under fire for the conservative views he held during a decade as a GOP officeholder.
Democrats have not won the Georgia governorship this century, but are hopeful about their chances in a favorable midterm political environment in a swing state Trump won by a little more than two percentage points in 2024. A victory would be a breakthrough for the party in a state where they have made major gains, including electing Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, but have been locked out of power on the state level.
“I’ve never wavered in taking on Trump,” Duncan says in his launch video. “So Georgia Republicans threw me out of their party. I was leaving anyway. Now I’m running for governor as a proud Democrat to focus on what matters most to Georgians.”
