Somewhat improbably, Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos is one of the last people standing in the Republican field to take on U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand in the fall.

The other is Wendy Long, a conservative lawyer who has said she’s interested in the seat. But it has been Maragos who has been a steady candidate for the better part of a year now and, after the decision by businessman Marc Cenedella not to run, remains the most viable GOP candidate heading into the state convention on March 16.

“I think she’s going to be a tough challenger, but I think New Yorkers are ready for a change,” Maragos told me in an interview last night at the annual conference of the Black, Hispanic, Puerto Rican and Asian Caucus in Albany (Maragos was one of the few Republican attendees at the gathering, as far as I could tell).

Maragos has stuck to a tight script on economic issues, but with little prodding did say the birth control debate and whether insurers should required to provide it “has nothing to do with the health” of women.

“I think it’s another example of government overreach — big government telling people how to live their lives,” he said. “It’s an infringement on the freedom of religion. It has nothing to do with the health and well-being of women in this case. Contraception is readily available to everyone.”

It’s a potential opening for Gillibrand, who has made womens’ health issues a major component of her agenda. The birth control debate at best has become an unwelcome distraction for the GOP, especially on the presidential level, where former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum has grabbed the spotlight from Mitt Romney.

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