State comptroller hopeful Harry Wilson declined to take a shot at embattled state Independence Party Chairman Frank MacKay, whose legal troubles appear to be mounting by the day.

In the wake of Staten Island DA Dan Donovan’s announcement yesterday that he would take a pass on seeking Row C in light of a likely investigation by his office into new reports of a $10,000 business loan by a failed NYC Council candidate from Staten Island to MacKay’s wife, I asked Wilson spokesman Bill O’Reilly if his candidate was concerned about running on Row C.

O’Reilly sought a response from Wilson, who said:

“I am pleased to be a candidate of the Republican, Conservative, and Independence Parties. I understand an investigation may be under way involving a leader within the Independence Party, and I am confident it will be conducted properly and thoroughly.”

“These parties are about more than their leaders, they are about all the New Yorkers across the state they represent, and I am proud to represent those people.”

Wilson and AG Andrew Cuomo were endorsed back in June by the Independence Party at its convention in Albany.

The party backed a little-known Indy attorney, Steve Lynch, for AG – a move widely viewed as punting to buy some time until the field shakes out, even though MacKay insisted Lynch isn’t a placeholder.

Wilson’s loyalty in this case isn’t surprising, in part because he simply doesn’t have much choice in the matter. It’s too late for him to get off Row C (ditto for Cuomo), no matter how ugly the Indys’ legal mess gets.

It does arguably open him up to criticism from his Democratic opponent, Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, whom Wilson has slammed for accepting the Working Families Party nod. But O’Reilly has said Wilson’s beef with the WFP has little to do with the fact that it is under investigation by the US attorney’s office and is instead about its ideology.

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