Duncan Senate
Caption

Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan pounds the gavel in the Georgia Senate on the first day of the 2022 legislative session on Jan. 10, 2022. He is leading the "GOP 2.0" movement, which envisions a Republican Party without the leadership of former President Trump.

Credit: Riley Bunch | GPB News

The panel

Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, @GeoffDuncanGA, lieutenant governor of Georgia

Jordan Fuchs, @JordyFuchs, deputy secretary of state of Georgia

Eric Tanenblatt, @ericjtanenblatt, Republican strategist 

Tamar Hallerman, @TamarHallerman, senior reporter, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

 

The breakdown

1. Secretary of State Brad Raffensberger receives a subpoena from the Department of Justice.

  • Raffensperger’s office received a subpoena for any communication with former President Donald Trump and his team. 
  • The subpoena is part of a DOJ Special Counsel probe into the classified documents at Trump’s Mar-o-Lago estate. 
  • Election officials in Cobb County also received a subpoena. 

 

2. The 2022 Senate runoff frustrates some typically Republican voters, including Duncan. 

  • Duncan did not vote for either Senate candidate.
  • Deputy Secretary of State Jordan Fuchs said that candidates in Georgia have to be able to pull voters who do not identify as strictly Democrat or Republican. 
  • Fuchs points out that candidates who denied election results and told voters that voting systems are unreliable did not fare well.
  • She also said that the General Assembly will look into options for general election runoffs. Georgia is the only state with general election runoffs. 

 

3. The panelists agree that more people need to engage in primaries. 

  • Fuchs said more people need to vote in the primaries if they want to avoid extreme candidates winning either party’s primary elections.  
  • She also pointed out that Raffensberger’s campaign pushed back on false election claims but tried to appeal to all voters.
  • Republican strategist Eric Tanenblatt said that the Republican Party needs to consider how it can reach out to more voting groups. 
  • According to Duncan, Gov. Brian Kemp’s campaign should be an example to all Georgia GOP candidates by emphasizing policy.

 

4. Putting the 2022 elections behind them, the GOP looks to the future of the party. 

  • Tanenblatt emphasized that Republican candidates should engage with Black and Hispanic voters in Georgia. 
  • As Florida Gov. Ron Desantis makes a national name, Duncan said he needs to decide how he wants to frame himself as a leader.

LISTEN: Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan on Georgia's move away from Trump.

Wednesday on Political Rewind: Emory Morsberger on philanthropy efforts in Ukraine.