(The Center Square) – Former Georgia lieutenant governor Geoff Duncan said Tuesday he is switching parties and running for governor as a Democrat.
He said on his campaign website that he is running as a Democrat because he wants to take on President Donald Trump and his allies.
“Georgians deserve leaders with the courage to take on Donald Trump, lower costs for families, and do what’s right,” Duncan said in a post on social media.
Duncan began criticizing the president after Trump challenged the 2020 elections and has been a vocal critic since leaving office in 2022.
Trump denounced Duncan in August on social media.
“Failed former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, of Georgia, is a total loser,” Trump said. “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.”
The Georgia Republican Party kicked him out in January and banned him from running as a Republican.
Duncan enters an already crowded field in the Democratic primary. Former Georgia Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond, who also served two terms as DeKalb County CEO, entered the race for the Democratic nod in August. He joined former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, state Sen. Jason Esteves and state Rep. Derrick Jackson in the race.
Other Democratic candidates are Akhenaten Hotep Amun, Olu Brown, Benjamin Turner and Ocean Zotique.
Two of Georgia’s top officeholders are battling it out on the Republican side. Lt. Gov. Burt Jones has received Trump’s endorsement. Attorney General Chris Carr was the first Republican to officially enter the race for the state’s top job when he announced in November.
Other Republican candidates are Ben Anderson, Clark Dean, Scott Daniel Ellison, Gregg Rodney Kirkpatrick, Billy Gene Minter II, Leland J. Olinger II, Walter Paschal Reeves II, Takosha Mishel Swan and Kenneth Yasger, according to the Georgia Campaign Finance System website.
