Lentol Won’t Run For Assembly Speaker Seat After All

The race to fill the New York State Assembly Speaker seat — now vacated by scandal-plagued Assemblymember Sheldon Silver — won’t include local Assemblymember Joseph Lentol as a candidate.

Lentol withdrew his name from consideration in after “recogniz[ing that he does] not have the support needed to become the Speaker,” despite being a well-respected, long-time representative of Greenpoint, Williamsburg, Wallabout, Vinegar Hill, and parts of Fort Greene and Clinton Hill.

He has now thrown his support towards Bronx Assemblymember Carl Heastie, who The New York Observer notes is slowly building support from various Democratic Party leaders in Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx.

Lentol said in a statement that he “look[s] forward to refocusing my attention on the important budgetary and legislative issues that face our state.”