Comedian Joe Piscopo says he won't run for N.J. governor

Joe Piscopo, the former Saturday Night Live star, said Wednesday that he would not run for governor of New Jersey, after having publicly stoked speculation for months on his radio show and in interviews that he might launch a campaign.

Piscopo, 65, best known for impersonating Frank Sinatra and others during his run on SNL in the early 1980s, endorsed Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, the Republican front-runner.

The comedian said "friends and mentors" had counseled against running as an independent.

"I am not a divider. I am not an obstructionist. I am a unifier," Piscopo said Wednesday on his radio show, AM 970's The Answer.

Piscopo supported Donald Trump's presidential campaign. He opted against a bid for the New Jersey GOP gubernatorial nomination, saying there was "no way a Republican can win in New Jersey."

"I think an independent has a better chance to win," he told Charles Stile of the Bergen Record in March.

Some New Jersey Republicans had hoped Piscopo would seek the GOP nomination, because they thought he represented their party's best chance to put forth an outsider candidate who wouldn't be associated with the unpopular Gov. Christie.

A new poll released Wednesday seemed to confirm the Democratic advantage, six months from November's general election.

Fifty percent of voters say they supported Phil Murphy, the Democratic front-runner, double the 25 percent who back Guadagno in a head-to-head general election, according to a Quinnipiac University survey.

Looking ahead to the June 6 primaries, though, a majority of voters in both parties are undecided. In the Democratic primary, 26 percent of voters support Murphy, a former Goldman Sachs executive and ambassador to Germany, while 7 percent prefer Jim Johnson, a former top U.S. Treasury official. Assemblyman John Wisniewski and State Sen. Raymond J. Lesniak secure 5 percent and 4 percent, respectively.

In the Republican primary, Guadagno leads the field with 23 percent support, compared with 12 percent for her chief challenger, Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli.

The first gubernatorial debates are set for Tuesday at Stockton University.

Piscopo on Wednesday said he and Guadagno had held a "secret summit" at his house over the weekend to discuss issues important to him. Piscopo said Guadagno shared his ideas for the state, such as lowering property taxes and helping the "disenfranchised."

Guadagno said she "humbly" accepted Piscopo's endorsement.

Independent gubernatorial runs are not unprecedented in New Jersey. Christopher J. Daggett, a former commissioner of environmental protection, ran as an independent in 2009 against Republican Christie and Democratic incumbent Jon S. Corzine.

Daggett raised enough money to qualify for public matching funds and participated in debates. He won just 5.8 percent of the vote in Christie's first gubernatorial election.

Christie's second term ends in January.