Former Saturday Night Live castmember Joe Piscopo has finally put us out of our misery and announced that, rather than run for governor of New Jersey this year as an independent, he will instead endorse GOP Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno. However, according to a new Quinnipiac poll, it’s going to take a whole lot more than Jersey Joe’s support to get Guadagno to Drumthwacket.
Quinnipiac gives Phil Murphy, a former Goldman Sachs executive and the clear Democratic primary frontrunner, a monster 50-25 lead in a hypothetical general election, not much different than the 47-25 edge the found in March. Neither candidate is still very well-known, though Murphy’s 28-12 score is much better than Guadagno’s 18-23 image. This time, Quinnipiac will include voter’s views does not appear to have asked respondents how they feel about termed-out GOP Gov. Chris Christie in a future release, but previous surveys from multiple groups have given him a horrible approval rating. Christie and Guadagno do not have a good relationship, but not enough people in the Garden State seem to know that or care.
Quinnipiac also takes a look at both parties’ June 6 primaries, and most voters still are undecided. On the Democratic side, Murphy leads ex-U.S. Treasury Under Secretary Jim Johnson 25-7, while Assemblyman John Wisniewski and state Sen. Ray Lesniak barely register. With so many voters up for grabs, a strong campaign may be able to knock Murphy off his game, but that’s not likely to happen. Murphy has by far the most money available in this expensive state and, probably more importantly, he has the support of all 21 county Democratic parties, which carry a lot of weight in Jersey politics.
On the GOP side, Guadagno leads state Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli 23-12, with a two other candidates taking 5 percent or less. Guadagno also has more county parties on her side, though Ciattarelli does have a few influential ones in his corner. Guadagno is also out with her first ad, which plays up her career as a prosecutor and sheriff… but not lieutenant governor. The narrator boldly claims that Guadagno is “credited with bringing New Jersey’s economy back from the brink,” which if true, would probably make her the single most powerful lieutenant governor in American history!