The former chief strategist for Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan said his former boss was the wrong fit for the job and that Duncan’s personal and professional shortcomings likely doomed his reelection prospects.
That man, Chip Lake, told The Georgia Star News Wednesday he worked on Duncan’s political campaign for a year and a half. During the lieutenant governor’s first year in office Lake served as Duncan’s chief of staff. Lake said he regrets working for Duncan.
“During the campaign he was a hard worker and a good listener. When he became lieutenant governor he went from a guy who asked a lot of questions to a guy who knew all the answers. It became very apparent this was not the same guy who was candidate Duncan,” Lake said.
“He changed and lost his drive and his work ethic. I made a decision in early December of that first year, 2019, that I was going to leave and I did and I don’t regret it. I am happy I got out.”
Lake described Duncan as someone who probably dislikes the position of lieutenant governor and cannot unite the GOP caucus and instead prefers “to throw big ideas at the wall and see if any of them stick.”
“That might have worked as a backbencher member of the Georgia house, but when you are lieutenant governor you have to lead and you have to grind. He didn’t think that was part of the job description,” Lake said.
“I don’t think the job met his expectations of what he thought the job was.”
Lake said that as Duncan’s chief of staff he spent too much time covering up his former boss’ weaknesses and not enough time highlighting his former boss’ strengths.
“Part of it is true that I am a disgruntled employee,” Lake said.
“But I also think the satisfying thing for me over the last six months is people have started to see the Geoff Duncan I saw when I was working for him.”
On Tuesday former U.S. President Donald Trump published a statement about Duncan and cited Lake.
“Good news for Georgia and the Republican Party. Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan won’t be running again for office. He was the one who, along with Governor Brian Kemp, stopped the Georgia State Senate from doing the job they wanted to do on the 2020 Presidential Election Fraud. Duncan’s fight against Election Fraud made him unelectable,” Trump wrote.
“His former top aide, Chip Lake, said that the Lieutenant Governor would not win another term in office. Lake said, ‘I think he was an accident, and this is what happens when accidents happen in politics. They become one and done.’ Now maybe the Georgia State Senate and House will build up the courage to expose the large-scale Presidential Election Fraud, which took place in their otherwise wonderful State. Let them just look at the State Senate in Arizona to find out what Leadership and Patriotism is all about!”
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
Background Photo “Georgia Capitol” by DXR. CC BY-SA 4.0.
