Split Decision: Who is the next New Jersey Guv gonna be?
Charles Stile, a political columnist for The Record, wrote this about potential gubernatorial candidate Joe Piscopo.
“A Republican, even if it was me, probably won’t win the election,” the comedian said during the interview in his office at WMCA studios in lower Manhattan, where he’s been hosting a weekday morning talk show since 2014. “There is no way a Republican can win in New Jersey. I think an independent has a better chance to win.”
Not. Unless Democrat frontrunner Phil Murphy has skeletons inside his closet then likely Republican candidate Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno and Piscopo have a snowball’s chance in hell of being the replacement for current Gov. Chris Christie.
Or, better yet, Las Vegas Insiders might wager that pigs will fly before a Republican or Independent Piscopo can defeat Murphy. A Quinnipiac University poll placed Murphy 17 points clear of party challengers and predicts the former U.S. Ambassador to Germany would beat Guadagno by 22 percentage points in a November general election.
The poll placed Murphy significantly clear of Assemblyman John Wisniewski, former U.S. Undersecretary of the Treasury Jim Johnson and State Sen. Ray Lesniak.
While Gov. Christie boasted his popularity as a Republican in a blue state, he no longer enjoys support from Democrats or Republicans. Christie’s linchpin relationship with President Donald Trump will mean disaster for Guadagno, Piscopo or any other gubernatorial candidate.
The Nov. 2017 election will serve as a referendum on Trump and even if the President visits to support Guadagno or Piscopo, Murphy ranks as a clear favorite.
Piscopo relinquished his desire to run as a Republican after realizing that he has no chance to move ahead of Guadagno.
An Independent winning in New Jersey? Well, after Trump beat all odds, nothing seems impossible. Scratch that. This is New Jersey, a state filled with blue voters who want to give Christie a fond farewell and flip off President Trump.