Former Gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino, who vowed to enter race if the Republicans don’t put up a reasonable challenger to Governor Cuomo, seems to be warming to the idea of GOP Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino running for governor next year, The Daily News reports.

“I hope Rob gets out there and sells himself to the rank and file all over the state,” said Paladino, who was trounced by Gov. Cuomo in 2010. “I can buy into that.

“He’s an up-and-comer, a bright star. Now he’s got to show he can do it and raise money and not just hang with Republican billionaires in New York City.”

For his part, Astorino told The Daily News he plans to speak with Paladino. “If I chose to run for governor, I don’t know why Carl would try to stop me,” Astorino said. “We may have different styles, but we’re on the same page on a lot of the issues, and I value his opinion, by the way. ”

Meanwhile, Astorino was invited to attend the Republican Governors Association meeting in Scottsdale, Ariz.,Tuesday, to discuss potential RGA help in raising cash for a race against Cuomo, The NY Post’s Fred Dicker reports.

“The RGA is interested in Rob, and if they weren’t interested in helping him run for governor, they wouldn’t be inviting him out,” said a source close to Astorino. “Rob is seen as potentially a New York version of [New Jersey’s] Chris Christie, a fiscal conservative with a real appeal to Democrats.”

The sources who spoke to the NY Post said the changing national and New York political landscape — brought about by the ObamaCare fiasco and the election of Bill de Blasio — had convinced Astorino that there’s a strong chance he could defeat Cuomo next year.

“Cuomo backed ObamaCare to the nines, and by his own admission, he’s a good buddy of de Blasio, whose class-warfare rhetoric and high-tax policies directly contradict what Cuomo claims he wants for New York,’’ said a source with direct knowledge of Astorino’s serious thinking. “The ObamaCare meltdown and the political problems de Blasio is going to cause Cuomo change the dynamic in New York to the benefit of a moderate Republican like Rob.”

A poll conducted by Siena Research and published Monday morning showed 51 percent of registered New York voters are prepared to re-elect Governor Cuomo, while 41 percent would prefer someone else.

However, Cuomo is still in a commanding position to win re-election by a 63-24 margin when matched against Astorino. In NYC, Cuomo leads by a whopping 74-13 margin.

(Jacob Kornbluh – YWN)