Former one-term Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan announced he is officially leaving the Republican Party.
“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,” Duncan wrote in an op-ed published by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Duncan cited his growing belief that the government should spend more tax dollars on social programs, support for a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants, and enhanced gun control measures.
The announcement is largely pro forma, with Duncan having been asked by Georgia GOP Chairman Josh McKoon to stop using the Republican title and later being “banished” from the Georgia Republican Party.
Duncan served in the Georgia legislature and was elected Lt. Governor in 2018 but chose not to run for reelection in 2018.
Duncan spoke at the Democrat National Convention in support of Harris and her Vice-Presidential candidate Tim Walz.
His reaction in January when party leaders expelled him: “What took them so long?”
Duncan was briefly considered as an Independent Presidential candidate by No Labels, an organization trying to attract moderates to form a separate political movement.
The 2024 election saw a number of political aisle-switchers including Tulsi Gabbard who left the Democrats and Joe Walsh switching Red to Blue. The trend continues in Texas where leaders are leaving the Democrat Party en masse over immigration issues. Analysts say the base level partisan coalitions that built the previous era parties are shifting.
Duncan has not announced any plans for his political future.
