ALBANY — Embattled state GOP chairman Ed Cox has refused for three weeks to return a phone call from Staten Island District Attorney Daniel Donovan Jr. — who is widely viewed as his party’s best hope for attorney general this year, sources said yesterday.

And GOP sources close to Donovan believe that Cox is ducking their man in hope that would-be gubernatorial candidate Rick Lazio will agree to run for attorney general, instead.

“I have not spoken to Ed Cox recently,” Donovan told The Post. “I don’t know the man very well, so I’m not sure if that’s surprising or not.”

Cox insists that he has called Donovan and is just “waiting for him to call me.”

He claims they’ve held “extensive discussions” about the run for attorney general.

But Donovan insists that’s just not so.

“I have not spoken at length with him about my possible candidacy,” Donovan said.