Pol angles for GOP ticket vs. Cuo

A Buffalo-area Republican is considering throwing his hat in the ring against Gov. Cuomo.

Former Erie County Executive Joel Giambra says he’s gunning for the state GOP’s endorsement in his bid to dethrone Cuomo, who is seeking his third term this fall.

“I’ve hired consultants. I’m putting together a team,” Giambra (right) told The Buffalo News Wednesday evening. “I’m a candidate for the Republican nomination.”

Giambra made the off-the-cuff statements while reacting to Cuomo’s State of the State address, but his spokesman Tony Farina said they’re still planning a formal announcement.

Giambra previously worked for Republican former Sen. Al D’Amato’s Park Strategies lobbying firm.

But he may run afoul of his base for previously bundling campaign donations for Democrats — including Bill de Blasio in 2013.

Meanwhile, state GOP chairman Ed Cox said on Fredric U. Dicker’s Talk 1300 radio show that he’s “not ruling anything out, anything in” when it comes to whom the state GOP will back to unseat Cuomo.

The response came after Dicker asked Cox whether he would get behind Democratic Comptroller Tom DiNapoli.

Reached by phone Thursday, Cox clarified his position.

“It’s not gonna happen,” he said.