Would-be AG Sean Coffey has scrapped his original plan to skip the state Democratic convention and head straight to an effort to petition his way onto the ballot, but he is nevertheless already putting the pieces in place for a field campaign.

Doug Forand of Red Horse Strategies confirmed that Coffey has hired his firm specifically to focus on field, which is always a crucial component of any campaign, but is likely to be extra important in the crowded AG primary.

Forand noted that he and his Red Horse partners, all of whom are veterans of the Senate Democrats’ political operation, have a background in organizing.

Forand started out with NYPIRG. Marc Lapidus worked in the labor world. Nathan Smith was once with ACORN.

The trio also learned that field is crucial in special elections where turnout is the name of the game. Forand, Smith and Lapidus worked on Sen. Craig Johnson’s successful campaign in 2007 and Sen. Darrel Aubertine’s winning bid in 2008.

Both of those Democrats won seats that were formerly held by the GOP and then subsequently managed to hold on in general elections.

Red Horse is already working for LG hopeful Bill Samuels. Forand said the firm signed on with Coffey because he has “a good story,” adding: “He’s been a fighter against Wall Street at a time when everyone recognizes that Wall Street needs to be reined in.”

“It’s going to be a fun race; it’s a wide open field,” Forand said. “…At this point, I would say it’s a mistake for any candidate not to be preparing to petition. With this many candidates in the race, there’s no guarantee anybody gets 25 percent.”

At the moment, it looks like Nassau County DA Kathleen Rice is the closest to hitting that magic ballot access threshold.

If she manages to land Brooklyn (9.146), her home organization of Nassau (7.832) and neighboring Suffolk (7.165), she’ll be just shy of 25 – assuming all the committee members vote en masse.

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