Former Lt. Gov. of Georgia Geoff Duncan speaks at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on August 21, 2024. Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images/File

Geoff Duncan, the former Republican lieutenant governor of Georgia, announced Tuesday he will run for governor in 2026 as a Democrat, cementing a high-profile party switch and entering a key midterm contest.

In a video announcing his campaign, Duncan says that “Georgia Republicans threw me out of their party,” but “I was leaving anyway.”

And Duncan says he’ll “focus on what matters most to Georgians,” referencing rising costs for child care, medicine and housing, while vowing to “make Georgia the front line of democracy and a backstop against extremism.”

A longtime Georgia Republican who served in the state legislature and as outgoing G

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