Former Republican Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan has switched parties, pointing to debates over Medicaid coverage, immigration, and gun control. 

The former Republican announced that he is now a registered Democrat in an Atlanta Journal-Constitution opinion piece on Tuesday. He also noted a possible interest in running for higher office in his new party.

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“My journey to becoming a Democrat started well before [President] Donald Trump tried to steal the 2020 election in Georgia. 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.

Duncan first became a household name among Peach State Republicans after his win as the underdog in the 2018 Republican primary runoff for lieutenant governor and his ultimate general election victory. However, he started to fall from GOP grace in 2020 when he publicly rejected Trump’s false claim of victory in Georgia in the 2020 presidential election.

The Georgia GOP ultimately fired Duncan in January after he campaigned for former Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election and spoke at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. 

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) took to X to celebrate Duncan’s GOP expulsion, writing with several fire emojis, “Expelled, ousted, and disgraced Republican Geoff Duncan belongs to the Democrats now.”

Today, Duncan made his party transition official.

“The list of reasons why I’m now a Democrat continues to grow,” Duncan wrote. “Most importantly, my decision puts me in the best possible position each day to love my neighbor.” Duncan said he felt a “daily struggle” to love his neighbor as a Republican.

Duncan pointed to his disagreements with the Republican Party over the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, taking aim at GOP moves to cut Medicaid and Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program benefits and noting his divergence from many Republican lawmakers on immigration. 

“Ordering military style raids on undocumented but law-abiding families for the sole purpose of creating a feeding frenzy on social media is the epitome of heartless, not to mention pointless,” Duncan wrote in the opinion piece. 

In an interview with Atlanta public radio station WABE on Tuesday, Duncan did not rule out a run for public office as a Democrat.

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“I have been receiving phone calls and conversations and cups of coffee from Democrats, independents, and even some common-sense Republicans that are sick and tired of watching the direction of not only this party but this country, encouraging me to look at seeking higher office, and it’s something we’ll seriously consider,” Duncan said. “If Georgia wants to elect somebody that wants to come into the office every day and make a difference, build a consensus, turn chaos into conversation, then it’s something I’ll certainly entertain.”

In March 2024, the Wall Street Journal reported the centrist group No Labels was considering tapping Duncan for a presidential bid, though he told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution later that he would not take the opportunity to run.