Suffolk County GOP Chairman John Jay LaValle, who has become a frequent surrogate for his hometown would-be governor, Steve Levy, called in yesterday to push back against reports that the Queens Republicans aren’t united in their support of the county executive.

“Levy’s picking up quite a head of steam and (Rick) Lazio’s dying on the vine,” LaValle insisted. “Last night’s turnaround in Queens – that’s more than seven point swing…I’m quite confident that the members of that committee are going to support the chairman and back Steve.”

LaValle then took a swipe at NYC Councilman Eric Ulrich, a Queens Republican and Lazio backer who told me yesterday that the committee is not, in fact, solidly behind Levy.

“With all due respect to the councilman, they’ve got a lot of problems in New York City,” said LaValle. “It would be nice if they’re were focused on governing instead of trying to pick candidate. Hopefully they’ll be better at government than they are at picking candidates.”

I pointed out that LaValle’s own county, which is Lazio’s home, too, isn’t united behind Levy.

The chairman countered by suggesting that some of the counties the former Long Island congressman is counting as solidly in his corner might not turn out to be there when push comes to shove at the convention.

He then predicted that he will be “walking into the convention with 80 percent or more of my committee,” adding:

” We’re Rick Lazio’s home county and he’s got 80 percent of the county against him. Do that math. He can’t carry anything outside of his own town. So, the reality is we’re very confident, and I know there’s a lot of talk out there, but at the end of the day we’ll see who puts up and who withers away into oblivion.”

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