MARIETTA, Ga. (AP) — Under the fluorescent lights of an American Legion hall near Atlanta, Jeff Duncan stood before a dozen Democratic activists and apologized for everything he had done as a Republican.
He laments his opposition to gun control. He’s sorry for opposing Medicaid expansion in Georgia. He deeply regrets supporting some of the strictest abortion rules in the country.
“Unlike most politicians, I’m willing to apologize for this,” Duncan said.
He’s doing a lot of apologizing these days as the former Republican is running for governor as a Democrat, trying to win over members of his newly formed party in a crowded primary in a key battleground state. While some view Duncan as an interloper, he has positioned himself as Democrats’ best chance to break a 24-year losing streak for Georgia’s top office.
“You have to win more than your base,” Duncan said. “So I’m the only one showing up in this Democratic primary that’s building a big enough coalition of Democrats, independents and, increasingly, disgusted Republicans.”
Duncan, a standard suburban Republican, served as lieutenant governor before the 2020 election, when he pushed back against President Donald Trump’s false claims of fraud. His stance has earned him the respect of many Democrats and a campaign for Kamala Harris in 2024. Now he’s testing whether that can translate into votes in the party’s primary.
He’s not the only one. Former Republican congressman David Jolly is running for Florida governor, and former Republican lawyer George Conway is running for Congress in New York City, both Democrats.
Their success or failure could offer lessons for the national party as it debates whether to focus on progressive ideas or on moderates and even conservatives turned off by Trump. Some still question why Harris went on a speaking tour with former Republican congresswoman Liz Cheney during her failed presidential campaign instead of focusing on energizing liberal voters.
“The question for Democrats 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 heretics, or a church that seeks converts?”
Democrats are curious
Georgia is preparing to choose Republican Gov. Brian Kemp’s successor, with six others currently seeking the Democratic nomination. Brian Kemp has served two terms and cannot run again.
Other candidates include former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, former state Sen. Jason Esteves, former elected state Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond and state Reps. Ruwa Romman and Derrick Jackson.
Some Democrats are at least curious about Duncan, the perpetually tanned former minor league baseball player. Tamara Stevens, a Democratic activist in Forsyth County, north of Atlanta, said Esteves is her “ideal candidate.” But she’s considering Duncan as she searches 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 on the losing side for so 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 “relatable” but also had her doubts.
“I think people have trust issues,” she said. “I do.”
Georgia Democratic strategist Fred Hicks noted that even while campaigning for Kamala Harris, Duncan always considered himself a Republican until his final conversion last August. He said some Democrats worry Duncan could be a “Trojan horse.”
“It seems like he just wants to be in power, and he can’t do that by being a Republican,” Hicks said.
Purity or pragmatism among primary voters?
The challenges Duncan faced became apparent when he campaigned in an Atlanta coffee shop the day after he announced his candidacy in September. Speaking to reporters, he stood beneath a mural of civil rights icons and Democratic politicians, including Bottoms, one of Duncan’s primary opponents.
Black voters typically make up the majority of Georgia’s Democratic primary electorate, with black women having particular influence. Hicks said it was a “little bit of a stretch” to believe they would select Duncan over Bottoms, Esteves and Thurmond, all of whom are black.
“I think he’s going to really struggle with that when you have a different type of Democrat running, someone who’s been a Democrat their whole life,” Hicks said.
Duncan’s message about transcending partisanship may appeal to donors. He said in Marietta that he had received 8,900 donations from all 50 states, but he did not disclose how much money had been raised.
Georgia does not register voters along party lines, and one option for Duncan is to enlist independents and Republicans to participate in the May 19 Democratic primary. Two years ago, more than 37,000 typical Democratic voters cast their ballots in the Republican primary, helping Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger defeat Trump’s handpicked candidate.
Duncan said he was building “a coalition big enough that we can win not just the primary but the general election.”
Begala said Democrats, alarmed by the Trump administration, may abandon purity testing in 2026.
“In this year’s primary, the message of the election is more powerful than I’ve ever seen it,” he said.
He said converting former Republicans will be key to Democratic victories in states like Georgia, Texas or Alaska.
“You actually have to get people who have been on the other side to come to your side,” Begala said.
Whit Ayres, a longtime Republican pollster and consultant, estimates that about 10% of Republicans remain strongly opposed to Trump, not including those who have left the party. But they may have already voted in Georgia’s Republican primary, where Raffensperger is running for governor.
He doubts that Democratic primary voters will think strategically about the general election, rather than just looking for the candidate who most closely aligns with their views.
“Donald Trump has changed a lot of things in American politics, and I think we need to be open to other things that might change,” Ayers said. “But we have to have people like Liz Cheney’s family, Jeff Duncan’s family, George Conway’s family, prove that they can be successful as Democrats before a lot of us will believe it.”