How former Republican Geoff Duncan plans to win Georgia for Democrats

His goal is not only to convince the party’s base that he really is a Democrat but also to make the tantalizing pitch that he is the only Democrat who can beat Republicans in 2026.

“Winning has got to be the utmost priority for us Democrats, or else we’ll get Donald Trump as our de facto governor, and none of us should be OK with that,” he said.

That was his message Tuesday night at Manuel’s, an iconic watering hole so famous among Democrats that Jimmy Carter launched his campaign for governor there in 1970.

“I tell people if they want to win, they should nominate me. We’ll beat the Republicans,” he told the crowd.

After listing his top three issues — affordability, health care and countering Donald Trump — Duncan explained how he could win the same coalition of Democrats, independents and “disgusted” Republicans that powered Gov. Brian Kemp and U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock to victory in 2022.

“This tent can get a lot bigger if we just open it up,” he said.

Duncan was talking about affordability earlier in the day, too, as he toured the apprentice training facilities at Sheet Metal Workers union Local 85 in Atlanta.

Allen Still, the local’s director of training, called Duncan “refreshing.”

“As far as unions are concerned, we’re not millionaires, but we’d like to take our kids on a vacation and not break the bank,” he said. “Health care and child care, those are big, big issues, and he’s hit on every one of those. So, that’s really why he’s got my support.”

At just 4.5% in the AJC’s early poll of Democratic primary voters, Duncan has an uphill climb, not just win the primary but also to break the Republican monopoly on state power they’ve had since 2003.

That was when another party switcher, Democrat-turned-Republican Sonny Perdue, told Georgia voters the party he used to belong to didn’t represent him anymore, and it didn’t represent them, either. Duncan wants to pull off the same feat but in reverse.

“Nobody in the Republican Party can justify Donald Trump right now. Nobody wants to, nor can they,” he said.

From the president’s tariffs to deploying National Guard troops in American cities to the rising cost of living, “it’s creating an angst and a need for change,” he said.

Duncan officially switched parties earlier this year after years of battling Trump. But that followed a career at the state Capitol when his fellow Republicans always seemed suspicious he was not enough of a team player.

“I swam upstream a lot,” Duncan said. “I pushed back against Trump after the 2020 election, but there’s a lot of other things that led up to that.”

Duncan’s break with his old party, and now his run for governor, have come at a cost not just to him. He and his family have lost friends and relationships in the process.

“It’s shirts versus skins. It’s tribalism,” he said. “But that’s part of this process that I’m trying to heal, to inject a new type of leadership.”

Credit: Patricia Murphy/AJC

Credit: Patricia Murphy/AJC

As a part of his campaign, Duncan has reached out to Democratic leaders, including calls to former Gov. Roy Barnes, and U.S. Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock.

“There’s no phone call I haven’t made,” he said.

Also on his call list: Stacey Abrams, who has not officially taken herself out of the race for 2026 yet. Duncan knew Abrams from his days in the state House and said he checks in with her periodically.

“She’s worked as hard as anybody in this race or in this party over the years, and I just like to give her updates and get any pearls of wisdom that she’s got along the way,” he said.

One piece of advice was to tell Duncan to work hard. “I think she realizes, as importantly as I do, that losing, for Democrats, is not an option.”

In an interview on the “Politically Georgia” podcast, Democratic Party of Georgia chair Charlie Bailey described Duncan as a kind of avatar for the type of voters the party has to welcome to win statewide elections. But he’ll need to prove himself to the party base, too.

“What Duncan represents is a lot of people in this state that call themselves Republicans or were Republicans that now vote for Democrats,” Bailey said.

Without those voters, former President Joe Biden could not have won in 2020, and Ossoff and Warnock might not be in the Senate, either. If Duncan wins the primary, Bailey said he would “of course” get behind him as the party’s nominee, just as he will any nominee. Not all Democrats feel the same way.

Former state Sen. Jason Esteves, who is also running for governor, has said Democratic voters won’t accept a person like Duncan who voted for Georgia’s six-week abortion ban or who once opposed Medicaid expansion in the state.

“He has to explain all of those terrible votes,” Esteves said.

Duncan tells each audience he’s in front of that he “got it wrong” on those issues and that he is on board with Democrats on the issues they care about.

That’s enough to get the vote of Dorothy Kirkley, who was in the audience as Duncan spoke at Manuel’s. “I really like his message. I think he’s right on affordability and health care, and the way he said, ‘Don’t give the keys to Trump.’”

If Duncan can pull off a win in November, he tells audiences, he could bring down-ticket Democrats along with him and set the course for new leaders in the state for decades.

“Democrats are ready to win, and so am I.”