Runs for Georgia governor

Former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan runs for Georgia governor — as a Democrat

Duncan clashed with President Donald Trump over his baseless allegations of election fraud in the 2020 election in Georgia.

By Elena Schneider

Former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, who denounced President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election, launched his gubernatorial bid Tuesday — joining an already crowded Democratic primary and cementing his exit from his former party.

In his announcement video, the former Republican state legislator leaned into his history of clashing with Trump, saying he “never wavered in taking on Trump.”

“I’m running for governor to put Georgians in the best position to once again love their neighbors,” Duncan said. “And to make Georgia the frontline of democracy and a backstop against extremism.”

Duncan’s candidacy adds another high-profile name to the Democratic field, which already includes former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, ex-DeKalb County CEO Mike Thurmond and former state Sen. Jason Esteves.

Republicans face their own primary to replace term-limited GOP Gov. Brian Kemp. Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, who has already picked up Trump’s endorsement, is running against Attorney General Chris Carr.

Duncan entered the national spotlight for his clashes with the president after the 2020 election, when he pushed back on Trump’s baseless allegations over his defeat and rejected his efforts to call for a special session to overturn his loss. At the time, he said on CNN that he voted for and campaigned for Trump, but “unfortunately, he did not win the state of Georgia” and “the mountains of misinformation are not helping the process; they are only hurting it.”

Duncan opted against running for reelection in 2022. By 2024, he joined a small group of prominent Republicans who didn’t back Trump against Kamala Harris.

In August, Duncan said his “political heart changed” and he’d be joining the Democratic Party.