State GOP Chairman Ed Cox is so worried about party-flipping Suffolk County Steve Levy’s chances of getting on the ballot at the party’s upcoming convention that he has been actively recruiting a fourth gubernatorial candidate, multiple sources confirm.

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Less than one month ago, Cox approached Dennis Mullen, a Rochester businessman who was confirmed by the Senate last week as ESDC chairman, to sound him out about potentially running, according to a source with direct knowledge of the conversation.

Mullen was president and CEO of the Greater Rochester Enterprise, an economic development organization, but he is perhaps best known as a former senior executive at Birds Eye Foods Inc. for 15 years.

State GOP spokesman Alex Carey insisted to me in no uncertain terms that Mullen and Cox never discussed the possibility of Mullen running for governor, although he did confirm the two spoke several weeks ago.

ESDC spokesman Warner Johnston sent me the following statement in response to my query about whether Mullen might be mulling a statewide run:

“ESDC Chairman Dennis Mullen’s number one priority is his work as the leader of New York State’s economic development agency.”

His focus is on the recovery of the state and is 100 percent committed to ESDC’s mission to drive job growth, strategic investment and prosperity in New York State. Mr. Mullen has no plans to seek elected office and will serve out his term as chairman.”

Meanwhile, POLITICO’s Maggie Haberman reported last night that Cox has made reference to the possibility of a fourth candidate for governor poised to enter the race, whom sources identified as M. Myers Mermel, a Westchester businessman who is at the moment the lone announced GOP lieutenant governor candidate.

This morning I reached Mermel, who claims to have locked down close to 70 percent of the weighted GOP convention vote for his LG run, but he declined to comment on either Haberman’s report or the announcement later today that GOP gubernatorial hopeful Rick Lazio has tapped Chautauqua County Executive Greg Edwards as his preferred running mate.

A source close to Cox claims the chairman did not seek to draft Mermel into the governor’s race, but rather was “informed” by Mermel that he intended to switch tracks and run to be the state’s top executive instead of his second-in-command.

It is widely belived that Cox’s ability to retain the chairmanship will turn on whether Levy manages to get onto the ballot.

Cox’s push to convince the Democratic county executive to switch his enrollment and run for governor on the GOP line has angered many in the Republican Party – not to mention state Conservative Party Chairman Mike Long, who pushed up his convention to ensure Lazio will be nominated for Row D before the GOP vote takes place.

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