Joe Piscopo Pulls Bid for New Jersey Governor

Former Saturday Night Live comedian and Donald Trump backer Joe Piscopo said Wednesday that he will not launch an independent campaign to succeed Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

Piscopo announced the decision during his radio show, telling a live audience at an event in Paramus, N.J., that he doesn’t want to be a divider.

He then brought Republican Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, who is running to succeed the term-limited Christie, onstage to endorse her ahead of next month’s Republican primary.

“This woman knows exactly what the heartbeat of this state is,” Piscopo said. He added that he was “saddened and disappointed” to not be running, but that after talking to Guadagno one-on-one recently, he thought she was the best candidate. He said he will be a “cheerleader” for her candidacy and will campaign for her around the state.

“Joe’s gonna make sure that we talk about what is good about this state,” Guadagno said.

Piscopo gained fame as a member of the SNL cast in the early 1980s, impersonating fellow New Jersey native Frank Sinatra. He also appeared in films, hosts a political talk radio show in New York and is a spokesman for the Boys and Girls Club.

Not since the 19th century has New Jersey elected anyone other than a top-party candidate. Most recently, former environmental official Chris Daggett finished with about 6 percent of the vote in 2009.

Piscopo is passing on one of only two statewide contests in the nation along with Virginia, and it’s a race that is well underway with Democrats and Republicans poised to elect their candidates in the June 6 primary.

Christie predicted defeat for Piscopo after he announced in March that he wouldn’t run as a Republican amid speculation he would get into the GOP primary.

“The fact is independents don’t win in this state. They simply don’t,” Christie said at the time. “It seems to me that this is just an attempt by Mr. Piscopo to increase the ratings on his radio show…. I hope it does, for his sake.”

Independents lack party structure that can help get the vote out and raise money, according to Peter Woolley, a politics professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University. He added that it’s “well-nigh impossible” for an independent to win the state.

Guadagno faces four challengers in the Republican primary, including Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli, Nutley commissioner Steve Rogers, businessman Joseph “Rudy” Rullo and engineer Hirsh Singh.