State GOP Chairman Ed Cox got an earful in Western NY last week (AKA Paladino Country), where he traveled in hopes of building a donor base to help build a GOTV program to rival the effort already being set up by the RNC.

Cox, who is now backing the “credible” party designee, Rick Lazio for governor, scheduled a sit-down with Assemblyman Jack Quinn, who is viewed as a rising GOP star and one of the party’s best hopes at re-taking a Senate seat this fall (he’ll be facing off against whoever wins the 58th SD Democratic primary…(fixed)).

Imagine the chairman’s surprise when his breakfast meeting at Pano’s, a Buffalo diner eatery on Elmwood Avenue, was crashed by Quinn’s consultant, Brendan Quinn, and Erie County GOP Chairman Nick Langworthy (a Carl Paladino supporter), who said he had not received a heads-up from Cox about his impending visit.

“He told people he was out here to build a donor base for the state party and wanted to find 20 people in Buffalo to give $10,000 apiece,” Langworthy told me.

“We have a lot of our own interests out here separate from what’s going on in state committee….it’s not like we have the deep pockets of New York City. I didn’t find out about the meeting until several of my donors called me to say he had asked them for money.”

“…He’s downplaying the ability of the RNC to fund the Victory program,” Langworthy continued. “I think that’s nonsense. He says he needs to do his own program because the RNC is going to be underfunded so they’re not going to be able to support the things they started.”

UPDATE1: A Cox spokesman sent an e-mail exchange between a state GOP staffer and Langworthy to prove that he did, in fact, get a heads-up. The e-mail was sent on Monday to let Langworthy know Cox would be in town on Wednesday and Thursday “of this week”. I just reached Langworthy, who said he had already heard at that point from two donors that Cox was headed to WNY and felt angry he was the “last to know.”

As you’ll recall, I reported back in June that RNC Chairman Michael Steele, who has had a rocky relationship with Cox, had decided to bypass the state GOP and give GOTV Victory funds directly to select county committees around New York.

Langworthy’s committee was one of them, and it has so far received about $10,000 in “seed money,” he told me. Quinn (Brendan, that is, not Jack), who is involved with the RNC Victory effort in NYS, said the national party has spent about $50,000 to $60,000 so far here and has six bare-bones offices up and running around the state.

Each office has a voice-over Internet phone system that will enable access to the RNC database, as well as a desktop computer, a T1 line and a small budget to pay for a staffer to man (or woman, as the case may be) the phones and keep the lights on.

Langworthy said he sent two staffers from Buffalo to Washington, D.C. to get trained, adding:

“This is the real deal; this is really happening. (Cox) is trying to say it’s not going be to funded? I think he’s a little bit in denial. I don’t think it was a very successful trip for the chairman.”

This isn’t the first time Cox has noted the RNC’s lack of cash (at least compared to the DNC) in this election season. Then again, it’s not like the state GOP is exactly flush these days, either.

(For the record, Langworthy, whose name has been floated as a potential replacement for Cox, insists he’s not thinking about anything other than getting re-elected to his county post after the primary, adding: “I’m not running for anything other than my own office”).

Cox sent out a e-mail update to the GOP list upon his return from Buffalo, in which he mentioned meeting with Langworthy, as well as Quinn (Jack this time, not Brendan) and Erie County Executive Chris Collins (another Paladino supporter).

He also noted that he had been on hand for the opening of the Hudson Valley Victory office, led a conference call with GOP county executives across the state, organized a “Road to Victory” event in Manhattan and visited both Saratoga and Livingston counties.

UPDATE2: A Cox spokesman sent the following statement:

“The description of the breakfast and of Chairman Cox’s visit to Buffalo is inaccurate in many respects, not the least of which is that Chairman Cox did not ask a single donor for any amount of money, let alone $10,000.”

“Chairman Cox merely relayed his plan to these donors for institutionalizing a permanent fundraising base throughout New York State to supplement the money given by the RNC, which is Ed Cox’s responsibility as Chairman of the State Party. ”

“As is customary every time Chairman Cox visits a county, County Chairman Langworthy was notified via phone and email ahead of time, and arrangements were made for a meeting between Chairman Cox and Langworthy, which took place the day prior to the breakfast.”

“I would be happy to forward you the emails sent between Chairman Langworthy and Chairman Cox’s assistant notifying Langworthy of the visit, if you’d like.”

“Finally, Brendan Quinn’s presence at the breakfast was of no surprise to Chairman Cox, who was pleased and had expected the participation of Brendan Quinn, given Brendan’s role as one of Jack Quinn’s chief advisors.”

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