Saying he believes the gubernatorial game is “over,” state Conservative Party Chairman Mike Long has pulled a power play on his Republican counterpart, Ed Cox, by calling his convention four days ahead of the GOP get-together in the exact same location.

The Conservatives will gather on May 28 at the Sheraton, and, assuming their executive committee’s March endorsement holds, vote to back Republican Rick Lazio for governor.

Long told me it was his hope that the Conservatives and Republicans would be unified – particularly given the conventional wisdom that Row D is crucial to any statewide GOP candidate (I know this theory has its detractors). But he’s tired of waiting for the Republicans to get their collective act together.

“It is apparent to me that (Suffolk County Executive Steve) Levy does not have the 51 percent, and I see no need to continue this charade,” Long told me.

“We should be all joining forces and moving forward to have the best campaign possible. I think we’re starting, at this point with the confusion that is going on, to hurt Assembly candidates, Senate candidates, congressional candidates…it’s hurting the entire ticket.”

Long insisted he’s “not trying to get in Ed’s face, not trying to get in anyone’s face,” but stressed: “I can’t sit around and wait to find out who loves me and who doesn’t love me; I’m moving forward.”

The chairman, who just returned from an upstate trip, said he’s getting feedback from GOP leaders that there is a lot of Republican anger at him for continuing to back Doug Hoffman in NY-23 against Matt Doheny.

He’s also hearing a lot of talk about “amendments and motions” to assist Levy to get onto the ballot – a charge Cox and his backers insist isn’t the case, but Long said: “I’m not getting those stories out of the sky.”

As for the rest of the ticket, the US Senate races are “wide open” at this point, Long said, adding:

“Nobody has 51 percent…That’s part of why I didn’t want to go early. I wanted to try to hold back and wait until we were united. We don’t need to be fighting on every statewide race. But now everyone has a week to get there.”

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