Former Georgia Republican Geoff Duncan launches a run for governor as a Democrat

Former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan — who served as a Republican but publicly switched parties to become a Democrat last month — on Tuesday jumped into the race to become Georgia’s next governor.

“Georgians deserve leaders with the courage to take on Donald Trump and do what’s right,” Duncan said in a statement announcing his campaign. “As Georgia’s first Democratic governor in 28 years, I will stand up to Trump and his yes men in our state while bringing down the costs of childcare, health care, and housing so every Georgia family is in the best position possible. That’s what Georgia deserves.”

Though Duncan formally left the GOP just a few weeks ago, he endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president and spoke at the Democratic Party’s nominating convention in August.

Duncan referred in his speech to Trump and his allies’ attempt to overturn the presidential election in Georgia in 2020. Joe Biden won the state’s electoral votes that year.

“My journey started to this podium years ago when I realized Donald Trump was willing to lie, cheat and steal to try to overturn the 2020 election. I realized Trump was a direct threat to democracy. And his actions disqualified him from ever, ever, ever stepping foot into the Oval Office again,” Duncan told Democrats in Chicago.

The Georgia Republican Party’s State Executive Committee voted unanimously in January to expel Duncan from the party, prohibiting him from working with it in the future.

In a video he released alongside his campaign launch Tuesday, Duncan referred to the GOP’s vote, telling viewers: “I’ve never wavered in taking on Trump. 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,” he added.

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The rest of the video focused on concerns about health care costs and rising prices, but Duncan also mentioned that he hopes “to make Georgia the front line of democracy and a backstop against extremism.”

Duncan is entering an already crowded Democratic primary field for governor, which includes former state Labor Commissioner and DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond, state Sen. Jason Esteves, state Rep. Derrick Jackson and former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms.

On the other side of the aisle, state Attorney General Chris Carr and Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, Duncan’s successor, are running in the Republican primary.

Georgia, a longtime Republican stronghold, has emerged as a battleground state in recent years, and the governor’s race next year is expected to be one of the most competitive in the country. After Biden won the state narrowly in 2020, Trump won it last year.

While the state has two Democratic senators — including Jon Ossoff, who is up for re-election next year — Georgia has not elected a Democratic governor since 1998.