ATLANTA — The 2024 Democratic National Convention is well underway on its third night in Chicago, and the event is shaping up to be a historic moment for American politics.
As Democrats prepare to officially nominate its first Black and Southeast Asian woman candidate for president, the party is also making headlines for the number of notable Republicans who have publicly announced they are throwing support behind the opposing party's candidate.
Among them is the former lieutenant governor of Georgia, Geoff Duncan. Duncan has been outspoken about disagreeing with the current direction of the Republican Party.
The former lieutenant governor played a key role in withstanding the pressure campaign by the Trump Administration to call a special session to swing the outcome of the Georgia election results in the former president's favor.
Since then, Duncan has been highly critical of Trump and the party.
In May, Duncan announced that he would vote for President Joe Biden over former President Trump. Then late last month, he reaffirmed his commitment to voting blue in November, even after Biden dropped out of the race.
The former Republican state official said he would be voting for Democrat Kamala Harris, saying he is "committed to beating Donald Trump."
Who is Geoff Duncan? Here's what to know
- Duncan, from Forsyth County, Georgia, northeast of metro Atlanta, ran for lieutenant governor in 2018 against Democrat Sarah Riggs Amico. He ended up serving as the No. 2 state official with Brian Kemp, currently serving his second term as Georgia governor.
- The then-43-year-old had previously served as a state representative in Georgia's 26th district, starting in 2012. He was a member of the Ways & Means, Information & Audits, Banks & Banking, Science & Technology and Interstate Cooperation committees
- He is a grad of Georgia Tech and was drafted by the Florida Marlins to play several seasons of Minor League Baseball
- He also served as the CEO of a tech startup company known as Wellview Health, based in Nashville, Tennessee.
- During office, Duncan championed the passage of Georgia's new-at-the-time hate crime bill into law, what he called an "important piece of legislation to get right." The bill was introduced in 2020 in the wake of the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, a Black man who was chased down and fatally shot by a group of three white men in a coastal Georgia town.
- Duncan was an outspoken critic of former president Donald Trump during the 2020 election, as the former president tried to
- In 2021, he announced he would not be seeking re-election as lieutenant governor, citing the "national events of the last six months (the pressure campaign by former President Trump for Georgia leaders to call a special session )" that "deeply affected my family in ways I never imagined." Duncan said he would instead transition to help build "the future of the national Republican party."
- In the wake of dissatisfaction with a repeat election matchup between Presidents Biden and Trump for 2024, Duncan's name was floated as a possible third-party candidate on a "unity ticket" by the group No Labels. That ultimately did not come to fruition.
- In his final year of office, Duncan announced he would be focused on plans to tackle gaps in the state's criminal record database, working with the Georgia Senate to draft legislation.
