No one in Republican ranks puts veteran County Clerk Edward Romaine atop the party's list of contenders for county executive. At best, he's No. 3.

But this year, when Republican officials seem to be dropping like flies, that may be good enough.

Romaine, a perennial understudy, is positioned just behind the front-runners, Brookhaven Supervisor John Jay LaValle and his Islip counterpart, Peter McGowan, who have reshaped the GOP and forced the exodus of former presiding officer Paul Tonna, County Executive Robert Gaffney and Suffolk GOP leader Anthony Apollaro.

But party sources say both LaValle and McGowan appear reluctant to risk their respective town power bases to make the countywide run, giving Romaine a possible opening for a post he's coveted for more than a decade.

"He may be the only one left standing in the room," said Commissioner of Jurors Michael O'Donohoe, who served with Romaine as a county lawmaker, "because no one else has entered the room."

The timing couldn't be any more fortuitous for Romaine, who because of the county term limit law is in his last term after a 14-year run.

Despite Suffolk's hard fiscal times, land scandals and health insurance mess, Romaine said he is undeterred.

"These are not easy times for anyone to run for county executive," he said. "These are serious times and require serious candidates ... and I'm ready to step up to the plate."

Romaine said he believes he has "a decent shot" at county executive, adding that "of course, it's dependent on everyone else," referring to LaValle and McGowan.

But Romaine is not waiting on anyone. He has scheduled a $150-a-head fund-raiser for Monday, his second this year. He already has $80,000 on hand and expects another $20,000 to $25,000 from the event, to be held at Villa Lombardi's in Holbrook.

"The two supervisors ... made their presence known in the presiding officer's race and their star was shining for a while and Ed was in the background," said Chief Deputy Comptroller Joseph Poerio, a longtime Romaine backer. "But Eddie, far and away, has every single quality we're looking for in a county executive candidate."

Indeed, the still youthful looking Romaine, 56, is described by friends and foes alike as articulate, a tireless campaigner and highly knowledgeable about county issues. He also has strong ties to minor parties.

Unlike his rivals, Romaine has also repeatedly run and won countywide as county clerk with huge margins. Last year, he won with nearly 68 percent of the vote, 114,000 votes ahead of his opponent.

Democrats, however, play down Romaine's electoral success, saying it reflects only the Republican edge in party enrollment and their own lack of effort in contests that are costly to wage and draw little public attention.

"The last time he faced a competitive race, we both know what happened," said Suffolk Democratic chairman Richard Schaffer, referring to Romaine's narrow losses to Rep. George Hochbrueckner, a Democrat from Coram, in 1988 and 1992.

Critics, including some in his own party, also jibe that Romaine has always been overly ambitious, rarely stood up on a tough votes and tends to badmouth enemies.

"He is such an opportunist, you never felt he was someone you could count on or really work with," said Sondra Bachety, a former Democratic county lawmaker who served with Romaine. "If he wanted something and you were in the way, you'd have the feeling he'd run the train right over you."

But Republican strategist Michael Dawidziak says such talk is overblown. "I'm sure he has his enemies in the [party] committee but so does everyone else," Dawidziak said. "He builds more bridges than he blows up."

Despite the criticism, no one questions Romaine's work ethic. Romaine as clerk oversees a staff of 130 and a $6.6-million budget, keeping records on all county land transactions and court proceedings and collecting fees totaling more than $300 million a year, mainly from mortgage taxes. Backers say he has computerized and streamlined the operation. "Certainly his work ethic runs circles around Bob Gaffney's," said legislative counsel Paul Sabatino.

Yet even backers admit that Romaine has had to toil in relative obscurity because the clerk's job is largely ministerial with little opportunity to shape policy - unlike the county comptroller, for instance, who can serve as a fiscal watchdog.

To make up for that low visibility, Romaine is out five to six nights a week even in non-election years, speaking to civic groups and GOP clubs and handing out proclamations.

"The joke is that if two people meet on a street corner, Ed will show up," said Legis. Fred Towle (R-Shirley), his former aide. "And if one of the people tells him that their father is having an 85th birthday next week, Ed will be back with a proclamation."

Even if LaValle were to run for county executive, Romaine would remain a top contender for either town supervisor this fall or, failing that, a potential foe to freshman Democratic Rep. Timothy Bishop of Southampton next year. Romaine, however, said he is interested only in becoming county executive and not town supervisor or making a congressional run.

Frank MacKay, the state and Suffolk Independence Party chairman, said that, while it's too early to commit to anyone, Romaine has always cultivated the minor parties. "He's a hard guy not to like," MacKay said. "And he's been a tough candidate to beat for any office."