NJ/NY Radio: WNYM's Joe Piscopo Considering Running For Governor

A new poll that has the potential to shake up this year's race for New Jersey governor shows still-undeclared comedian and WNYM 970 AM morning host Joe Piscopo is just six points behind Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno among Republican primary voters.

The Fairleigh Dickinson University Public Mind poll released on Thursday found at least half of Republican and Democratic primary voters in the state haven't made up their minds about who to support in this very early going.

But it gives Guadagno, the Republican frontrunner, just an 18 percent to 12 percent edge over comedian Piscopo.

Joe Piscopo

"This is likely to grab attention, because you've got someone who's been in statewide elective office for two terms and remains within the margin of error with someone who has no political experience and hasn't even declared his candidacy," said Krista Jenkins, the poll's director and a political science professor at FDU. "That's gotta hurt."

Piscopo, who's considering a run as a Republican but lately has been leaning towards running as an independent, told NJ Advance Media he was "intensely humbled" by the positive voter reception, and that "this very well might make me re-think the approach I am going to take."

He's got until April 3 to declare himself as a Republican but GOP officials from each county will be meeting in the next few weeks to make endorsements and award the favored party line that usually makes a big difference with primary voters. He has until June 6 to declare himself an independent candidate.

But whether Piscopo, who rose to national prominence in the 1980s alongside Eddie Murphy on "Saturday Night Live," can parlay his name recognition into a meaningful political advantage remains to be seen.

According to The NYTimes, Piscopo has formed the skeleton of a platform: a focus on increasing manufacturing for distressed communities; resuscitating the state’s once-booming pharmaceutical industry; a property tax cap; using public-private partnerships to rebuild the state’s infrastructure; eliminating the state income tax for teachers, firefighters and the police; and, with his show business roots, working to “make Atlantic City the film capital of the Northeast.”  Despite a relatively conservative platform, Mr. Piscopo is very pro-union.