Former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan is no stranger to politics, but this is his first campaign for public office as a Democrat.
The ex-Republican said he’s the only candidate for governor who can build a coalition to win both the party’s primary in May and the general election in November.
And he said he believes Democrats will look past his conservative record.
“We have to win, because second-place trophies don’t solve problems,” he said.
Duncan was one of six leading candidates for Georgia governor who joined the Politically Georgia forum in November. Here are excerpts from his interview.
On his message to wary Democrats
“Every room I walk into, I remind folks how long it’s been since the Democrats won the governorship. It’s been nearly 30 years, and we can come up with reasons why that’s the case. But the real reason is because we haven’t got enough votes. It takes more than the base to win a governor’s race in Georgia, and we’ve seen that play out in the last few elections.”
On the reaction to his switch from the GOP
“Some of the skeptics out there will ask, ‘Geoff, have you lost your mind?’ And the answer is no. I found my heart. I wake up every day as a Democrat, a proud Democrat, with a better tool kit to serve those that need assistance, that need the state government to meet them where they’re at. And so I wake up every day with a better set of options.”
On his plans to tap Georgia’s surplus fund
“We have nearly $17 billion in our state’s rainy day fund. I want to take 10% of that, $1.7 billion, and use that as a jump-start fund to help those single parents who can’t go back to work because they can’t afford child care, to help those folks that can’t afford a roof over their head, to help figure out ways to close skills gaps, to expand Medicaid.”
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