The former Saturday Night Live star Joe Piscopo says talk of him running for New Jersey governor to succeed Chris Christie in 2018 is not a joke.

Piscopo, 65, gained fame as a member of the SNL cast, impersonating his fellow Jersey native Frank Sinatra as well as the late-night host Dave Letterman. He has also appeared in films and hosts a political talk radio show in New York.

He says he would probably run in New Jersey as a Republican, but isn’t ruling out jumping in as an independent after the 6 June 2017 primary.

“I’m seriously looking at it,” he said, promising to make a decision by January. “I love the people. I love the state. I know what has to be done.”

Piscopo, who has never campaigned for or held office, considered running in 2004. He said he felt emboldened by the victory of President-elect Donald Trump, whom he spoke for recently at a Florida rally.

“When I saw Mr Trump in Tampa and he invited me to speak, I saw it was contagious,” Piscopo said. “It was the movement. It wasn’t the machine.”

A Piscopo run could be a significant boost to state Republicans who are in rough shape thanks to Christie’s record-low approval ratings.

Christie’s reputation has suffered after his short run for president and the scandal over politically motivated lane closures on the George Washington bridge between Fort Lee and Manhattan, which resulted in the conviction last month of two close aides to the governor.

Christie has maintained that he did not know about the 2013 scheme, which was implemented in retaliation for the mayor of Fort Lee’s refusal to endorse his re-election. After the convictions of his former aides, Christie was dropped as head of Trump’s transition team.

“I’m not saying you replicate the Trump formula, but money and partisan leaning are not in [Republicans’] favor,” said Brigid Harrison, a Montclair State University political science professor. “But this is upending the formula.”

Others are not sure Piscopo could raise enough cash to compete effectively. A high level of name identification among voters goes a long way but might not be enough, said Ben Dworkin, the director of the Rebovich Institute of New Jersey Politics, citing the state’s tendency to switch from one party to another between governors.

“There’s only one Donald Trump,” he said. “Just because he did it doesn’t mean the playbook will work again.”

Piscopo would be joining a Republican field that includes assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli, Nutley commissioner Steve Rogers (an adviser to Trump’s campaign) and possibly lieutenant governor Kim Guadagno. State assembly minority leader Jon Bramnick is also considering a bid.

On the Democratic side, Phil Murphy, a wealthy onetime Goldman Sachs executive and Obama administration diplomat, is in a strong position. Assemblyman John Wisniewski, who co-chaired the legislature’s investigation into the 2013 George Washington bridge scandal, is also running.