Former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan hinted at a possible run for higher office as a Democrat after announcing he was leaving the Republican Party.
Duncan, who served as lieutenant governor as a Republican from 2019 until 2023, said he is considering running for higher office after revealing his switch to the Democratic Party earlier this week, with a decision about his political future potentially coming in the next few weeks or months, according to WSB-TV.
“I think Georgians want people who can speak truth to power in the middle,” he told the outlet.
He did not specify which higher office he might seek, but it has been speculated that he may launch a campaign for governor to succeed term-limited Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, who Duncan served with during his time as lieutenant governor.
FORMER LT. GOV. GEOFF DUNCAN ABANDONS GOP TO JOIN DEMOCRATIC PARTY
Notable names already in the race for governor for the 2026 election include Keisha Lance Bottoms, a former mayor of Atlanta who later worked in the Biden administration, and – on the Republican side – current Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and state Attorney General Chris Carr.
In an op-ed in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution published Tuesday, Duncan wrote that his path to becoming a Democrat had been years in the making, starting before President Donald Trump attempted to overturn his loss to former President Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election.
“My journey to becoming a Democrat started well before Donald Trump tried to steal the 2020 election in Georgia,” Duncan wrote in the newspaper.
“There’s no date on a calendar or line in the sand that points to the exact moment in time my political heart changed, but it has,” he continued. “My decision was centered around my daily struggle to love my neighbor, as a Republican.”
Trump responded to Duncan’s party switch by saying the former lieutenant governor is a “total loser” who is no longer wanted in the Republican Party.
“Failed former Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan, of Georgia, is a total loser,” Trump wrote Friday on Truth Social. “Was never able to get anything done, all he ever did was complain. We didn’t want him in the Republican Party any longer, so I’m told he became a Democrat. Good riddance Geoff. You don’t even have a chance!!!”
Duncan pointed to several policy issues that played a part in his decision to change parties, criticizing Republicans for their handling of issues such as health care, Medicaid, gun safety, immigration and how to help poor people.
He wrote that his time in office taught him the best way to “love my neighbor” is through public policy. Before his time as lieutenant governor, he served in the Georgia House from 2013 until 2017. He opted not to run for re-election as lieutenant governor in 2022.
GEORGIA GOP EXPELS FORMER LT. GOV. GEOFF DUNCAN FROM PARTY, CITING ALLEGED DISLOYALTY
Duncan’s decision to leave the GOP comes after the Georgia Republican Party expelled him from the party earlier this year over alleged disloyalty. The party’s resolution cited his endorsement of Biden in the 2024 presidential election and, once he dropped out, his endorsement of former Vice President Kamala Harris, as well as alleged efforts to undermine and sabotage some Republican candidates, including Jones and failed 2022 Senate candidate Herschel Walker.
The former Republican also spoke at the Democratic National Convention in August in support of Harris.
“Geoff Duncan has finally said out loud what any person with eyes has known for years: he is a Democrat,” Georgia Republican Party chairman Josh McKoon told WSB-TV.
Duncan has been a vocal critic of Trump and the Republican Party in recent years, particularly since the president’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss and the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
“There isn’t like one line in the sand or one moment in time. It was a series of parallel processes. One, watching the heart and soul of the Republican Party just get sucked out of it by Donald Trump and those that follow him closely,” Duncan told WSB-TV.
Duncan wrote in the op-ed that the Trump-backed spending bill that was signed into law last month will leave Medicaid funding “in shambles,” as it cuts hundreds of billions of dollars from the government program. He also criticized the measure for its cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, more commonly known as food stamps, and its impact on ensuring children do not go hungry at school.
He also pointed to polls showing support for gun control measures such as universal background checks and red-flag laws.
The ex-Republican also criticized the Trump administration’s mass deportation immigration policies that he said “have turned into a lesson on how not to love your neighbor.” He said that immigration policy should focus on securing the border, deporting those in the country illegally who have committed felonies, but that a path to citizenship should be created for other migrants in the U.S.
“The list of reasons why I’m now a Democrat continues to grow,” Duncan wrote. “Most importantly, my decision puts me in the best possible position each day to love my neighbor.”
