Former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan has officially joined the Democratic Party, marking a significant shift from his Republican roots. The announcement comes after his growing disillusionment with the GOP's direction in recent years.
According to The Hill, Duncan revealed his party switch in an op-ed published in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Tuesday. He explained that his transition has been developing over time rather than being triggered by a single event.
In his op-ed, Duncan wrote that his decision was rooted in a "daily struggle to love my neighbor, as a Republican," suggesting that his values have increasingly aligned with Democratic policies. The former lieutenant governor had previously been expelled from the Georgia Republican Party after endorsing Kamala Harris during the 2024 presidential election.
Duncan cited healthcare as a primary concern in his political transformation. He challenged the long-standing Republican position that employment solves health insurance issues, noting that many uninsured Georgians actually work in jobs that don't provide adequate coverage or wages to afford it.
The former Republican official also expressed alarm over proposed cuts to Medicaid funding in Trump's tax and spending legislation. He warned that these reductions would leave the program "in shambles" with hundreds of billions of dollars removed from essential healthcare services.
Duncan's concerns extended to food assistance programs as well. He criticized planned cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known as food stamps, emphasizing how these reductions would negatively impact children's access to adequate nutrition at school.
Duncan pointed to public opinion polling showing widespread support for various gun safety measures, including universal background checks and red flag laws. He suggested that the Republican position on firearms has become increasingly disconnected from what most Americans want.
The former lieutenant governor did not mince words regarding Trump-era immigration policies, characterizing them as "a lesson on how not to love your neighbor." This harsh assessment reflects his growing discomfort with the GOP's approach to border and immigration issues.
Duncan outlined his own vision for immigration reform, advocating for a three-pronged approach: secure the border, deport individuals in the country illegally who have committed felonies, and create a viable path to citizenship for the remaining undocumented population. This balanced perspective contrasts with more hardline Republican positions.
Duncan's relationship with the Republican Party has been deteriorating since the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election. As lieutenant governor, he publicly opposed Trump's efforts to overturn Georgia's election results and criticized the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack.
His criticism of the former president and the party's direction eventually led to concrete consequences. The Georgia Republican Party formally expelled Duncan after he endorsed Harris and even spoke at the Democratic National Convention in August in support of her candidacy.
Duncan chose not to seek reelection as lieutenant governor in 2022, suggesting his growing disillusionment with the party had reached a breaking point well before his official switch to the Democratic Party. His departure from office allowed him greater freedom to express his evolving political views.
Duncan's transition to the Democratic Party represents part of a small but notable trend of former Republican officials making similar moves in recent months. Former Representatives Joe Walsh of Illinois and David Jolly of Florida have also switched their affiliations from Republican to Democrat.
In concluding his op-ed, Duncan emphasized that his list of reasons for becoming a Democrat "continues to grow." He framed his decision in moral terms, stating that joining the Democratic Party puts him "in the best possible position each day to love my neighbor."
This language of moral conviction suggests Duncan views his party switch not merely as a political calculation but as an alignment of his personal values with his public identity. For Duncan, the decision appears to represent the culmination of years of growing distance between his principles and those of the modern Republican Party.
