MARIETTA, Ga. (AP) — Under the fluorescent lights of an American Legion hall near Atlanta, in front of more than a dozen Democratic activists, Geoff Duncan apologized for all the things he did as a Republican.
He regrets opposing gun control. He’s sorry he fought Georgia’s Medicaid expansion. And worst of all, he supports some of the strictest abortion rules in the country.
“Unlike most people in politics, I’m willing to say I’m sorry about it,” Duncan said.
He’s been apologizing a lot these days as the former Republican runs for governor as a Democrat, trying to win over members of his newly adopted party in a crowded primary in a critical battleground state. Although some view Duncan as an outsider, he presents himself as the Democrats’ best chance to snap their 24-year losing streak for Georgia’s highest office.
“You have to earn more than the base,” Duncan said. “And so I’m the only one showing up in this Democratic primary that’s building a big enough coalition of Democrats, independents and this growing group of disgusted Republicans.”
Duncan was a standard-issue suburban Republican who served as lieutenant governor until the 2020 election, when he pushed back on President Donald Trump’s false claims of fraud. His stance earned him the respect of many Democrats, and he campaigned for Kamala Harris in 2024. Now he’s testing whether that can translate into votes in the party’s primary.
He is not the only one. Former Republican congressman David Jolly is running for governor in Florida, and former Republican attorney George Conway is running for Congress from New York City, both as Democrats.
Their success or failure could provide lessons for the national party as it debates whether to focus on progressive ideas or backcourt moderates and even conservatives spurned by Trump. Some still wonder why Harris tangled with Liz Cheney, a former Republican congresswoman, instead of focusing on motivating liberal voters during her failed presidential campaign.
“The question for the Democratic Party is what kind of church do you want to be?” asked Democratic commentator and political consultant Paul Begala. “Do you want to be a church that hunts down heretics or do you want to be a church that seeks converts?”
Democrats are curious
There are six others seeking the Democratic nomination as Georgia prepares to choose a successor to Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, who has served two terms and cannot run again.
Other candidates include former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, former state Sen. Jason Esteves, former state Labor Commissioner-elect Michael Thurmond and state representatives Ruwa Romman and Derrick Jackson.
Some Democrats are at least curious about Duncan, a perpetually tanned former minor league baseball player. Tamara Stevens, a Democratic activist from Forsyth County, north of Atlanta, said Esteves is her “ideal candidate.” But he’s thinking of Duncan because he’s looking for the most likely winner.
“I don’t have to agree with him on every issue. I don’t have to like him personally,” Stevens said. “I want a candidate who can win. Because we’ve been losing for too long and it’s been devastating to our community.”
Mindy Seger, a prominent Cobb County Democrat who attended Duncan’s meeting at the American Legion hall, described him as “a good fit,” but she had her doubts.
“I think people have trust issues,” she said. “Yes”.
Fred Hicks, a Democratic strategist in Georgia, noted that Duncan continued to identify as a Republican, even while campaigning for Kamala Harris, until his final conversion last August. He said some Democrats fear Duncan could be “a Trojan horse.”
“It seems like he just wants to be in power and he couldn’t get there being a Republican,” Hicks said.
Purity or pragmatism for primary voters?
Duncan’s challenge was clear as he campaigned at an Atlanta coffee shop the day after he announced his candidacy in September. As he spoke to reporters, he stood under a mural of civil rights icons and Democratic politicians — including Bottoms, one of Duncan’s main opponents.
Black voters typically make up the majority of the Democratic primary electorate in Georgia, with black women particularly influential. Hicks said it’s “a bit of a stretch” to think they’ll pick Duncan over Bottoms, Esteves and Thurmond, who are all black.
“I think it’s going to really struggle when you have different types of Democrats who have been Democrats their whole lives running,” Hicks said.
Duncan’s message of transcending partisanship could attract donors. He said in Marietta that he has already received 8,900 contributions from all 50 states, though he did not say how much he had raised.
One option in Georgia — which does not register voters by party — is for Duncan to court independents and Republicans to move to the May 19 Democratic primary. Two years ago, more than 37,000 typically Democratic voters cast ballots in the Republican primary to help Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger defeat Trump’s nominee.
Duncan said he’s not taking anyone for granted as he campaigned among small business owners and union members in Macon on Monday.
“I meet Georgians where they are and work to build the trust of every voter I meet,” Duncan said in a statement.
Begala said Democrats alarmed by the Trump administration might look beyond the 2026 purity tests.
“Electability is a stronger message in a primary this year than we’ve ever seen,” he said.
He said converting former Republicans would be key to any Democratic victories in states like Georgia, Texas or Alaska.
“You actually have to get people who have been on the other side to come with you,” Begala said.
Whit Ayres, a longtime Republican pollster and consultant, estimates that about 10 percent of Republicans remain deeply opposed to Trump, not including those who have already left the party. But they may already be voting in the Republican primary in Georgia, where Raffensperger is running for governor.
He is skeptical that Democratic primary voters will think strategically in the general election, rather than just looking for the candidates who most closely align with their own views.
“Donald Trump has changed so many things about American politics that I think we have to keep an open mind about other things that could be changed,” Ayres said. “But we’re going to have to have people like Liz Cheney, Geoff Duncan, George Conway prove they can be successful as Democrats before many of us believe.”