Republican gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino is reconsidering his decision not to run on a third party line of his own creation in the general election if he fails to win the GOP primary in September, a source familiar with the Buffalo businessman confirmed this morning.

The announcement of Paladino’s change of heart could come as early as this afternoon.

According to this source, Paladino has been iniundated with calls and e-mails from supporters – particularly those who want to run on his independent Taxpayers line – asking him not to forgo a run in November, even if he would potentially take on the role of a spoiler and making it that much harder for Lazio to defeat the frontrunner, Democratic AG Andrew Cuomo.

Rus Thompson, a Western NY Tea Party activist who wants to run for state comptroller on Paladino’s Taxpayer line, wrote on his blog that he is “bending (Paladino’s) ear every chance I get”, and has been for weeks, in hopes that he would reconsider.

Thompson’s reasoning: With Paladino at the top of the Taxpayers ticket, the chances are higher for the creation of a new third party, which could perhaps rival the state Conservative Party – a big goal of some right-leaning voters who are upset with Chairman Mike Long and his decision to back a moderate like Lazio.

Paladino said during an “Inside City Hall” interview earlier this week that his main concern is “taking down” Cuomo, explaining: “If we don’t win the Republican primary we’re going to be gone at that point, because we’re not going to be a spoiler.”

UPDATE: Paladino’s statement about his intention to “preserve all my options” appears in full after the jump.

“I am so confident of victory in the New York Republican Primary that I spoke hastily this week on ‘Inside City Hall’ and said I would be gone if i did not win the Republican Primary,” Paladino said.

“Many in the Tea Party movement and more of my supporters expressed extreme displeasure immediately. They want me to carry the fight for reform into the Fall with the Taxpayers Line. I owe it to them and our State to examine the circumstances after the GOP primary, when I believe this issue will be moot.”

“The fight for reform is bigger than any party. It is tragic that the New York State Conservative Party violated their birthright by designating a liberal Republican, so the formation of the Taxpayers line is required. Therefore I will preserve all my options until after the Primary.”

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