Geoff Duncan: How I’m navigating switch from Republican to life as Democrat
When I first announced I was joining the Democratic Party, people asked me if I lost my mind. I simply answered: No, I found my heart.
Waking up each day now as a proud Democrat gives me the ability to access a much-improved policy tool kit to meet a majority of Georgians where they need us the most in their lives.
Being a Republican today means throwing tens of thousands of Georgia families off their health insurance and letting the cost of medication skyrocket just to appease Donald Trump. I want to work with Georgians to expand Medicaid and help bring health care costs down for everyone.
Being a Republican today means being expected to stand behind synthetic GOP excuses that defend giving tax breaks to the few at the expense of the many, including thousands of hungry school kids who are losing their one meal a day because of slashes to funding for free and reduced-cost lunches. I’m now proudly on a team that wants to solve poverty, not demonize it.
Being a Republican today means being expected to look the other way from the brutal and often predictable facts of a mass shooting. There is literally no excuse left for Republicans to hide behind to not pass common sense gun safety legislation. I’m campaigning for universal background checks, red flag laws and in-home gun safety laws.
Democrats have the policy high ground on these issues. But second place trophies don’t solve any of these problems and Democrats know it.
Democrats need Republicans’ and independents’ votes
In every room I walk into on the campaign trail, Democrats are painfully aware that it’s been nearly 30 years since a Democrat has been sworn in as governor.
They know that to win a statewide election in Georgia you have to attract more than your political base to be successful.
Look no further than Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock on the left and Gov. Brian Kemp on the right.
All three were able to attract not only their partisan bases but also independents and dissatisfied voters from the other side of the aisle.
Democrats will have to do the same thing if we want to be successful in the governor’s race for 2026, and I have the best chance to do that.
So many people have asked me about the response to my party switch. To that point I can tell you, any notion that Democrats wouldn’t accept a former Republican into their party has been dispelled over the last few months as I’ve hit the campaign trail.
A recent AJC poll backs up this claim. The poll asked Georgia Democrats across the state if being a former Republican hurts my chances of getting their support for governor. A resounding 63% of Georgia Democrats polled said my party switch either does not negatively affect their support of me or actually increases their likelihood to support me.
Abortion rights was one of the issues I ‘flat out’ got wrong
I’ve been able to speak to Georgians in communities across the state and tell them exactly what I will tell you now: Our state is facing an affordability crisis, a health care crisis and a Donald Trump crisis. Democrats are on the right side of these issues and many others, but we have to win to do something about it.
As you can imagine, I am also asked about my past, and I tell people that becoming a Democrat has allowed me to reconcile with a few important issues I flat out got wrong in my previous political career.
I have taken the time to listen to the complicated medical scenarios and deeply personal situations that women face when contemplating what is often the hardest choice they will ever face. Women deserve the right to make that difficult decision with the help of their families, their faith leaders and their doctors, not the government.
On Day 1 as governor, I will sign an executive order that allows doctors to practice medicine on pregnant women without the fear of prosecution and also introduce legislation that repeals Georgia’s six-week abortion ban. Despite anyone’s personal opinions on the matter, nobody has the right to force those opinions on someone else — especially a pregnant woman.
By the end of every speech I give or meeting I attend, the hopefuls in the room significantly outnumber the skeptics. Some are attracted to my campaign because of my moderate tone and tenor, others are supportive because I give Democrats the best chance to win in November 2026.
Elections are about addition not subtraction and the Democratic tent is getting bigger right in front of our eyes.
I am running for governor as a proud Democrat and, standing together, I believe we can take back the governor’s office and start delivering for the people of Georgia again.
Geoff Duncan served as Georgia lieutenant governor as a Republican from 2019 to 2023. He is now a Democratic candidate for governor in the 2026 statewide primary election. He is a former paid contributor to the AJC.
