Humorist Jimmy Tingle files papers to run for Lt. Gov.

BOSTON (AP) - Comedian Jimmy Tingle is apparently setting his sights on public office.

The longtime political humorist filed paperwork on Friday indicating he planned to run for lieutenant governor of Massachusetts as a Democrat in 2018.

The Cambridge resident told The Boston Globe (http://bit.ly/2wH675J ) that after doing social and political humor for more than three decades he wanted to "take it to the next level."

He filed a statement of organization for the Committee to Elect Jimmy Tingle with the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance. He hasn't formally announced.

Tingle earned a master's degree in public administration from Harvard University in 2010.

The only formally announced Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor is Quentin Palfrey, who served as a senior adviser in the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy during the Obama administration.