Assemblyman Joseph Lentol, a longtime legislator from Brooklyn, dropped his candidacy Thursday to become the new leader of the state Assembly, reducing the field to three.

Saying he doesn’t have enough support, Lentol said he’s backing Assemblyman Carl Heastie of the Bronx, who appeared then to have most if not all the 76 votes needed.

“For all practicality, I think Carl has the votes at hand to enable him,” Lentol said. “Other members are going to come on board because the train is leaving the station.”

The 47-year-old Heastie was already the front-runner to replace Speaker Sheldon Silver in one of the most important posts in New York government.

Assemblyman Keith Wright of Manhattan withdrew from contention Wednesday and also backed Heastie.

The other two remaining candidates are Majority Leader Joseph Morelle of Rochester and Assemblywoman Catherine Nolan of Queens. A spokesman for Morelle said nothing had changed following Lentol’s decision. Calls to Heastie and Nolan were not immediately returned Thursday.

Lentol, a legislator for 42 years who has chaired the Codes Committee for two decades, said he sought the leadership post “with a firm belief” that the Assembly needs reform and members are demanding it. He has proposed revamping funding and staffing so all legislators have enough to respond to issues in their districts and adequately prepare for committee meetings and legislative sessions.

Assembly member Linda Rosenthal of Manhattan, one of two-dozen Democrats who called Thursday for those and other reforms, issued a later statement also supporting Heastie as speaker. He has been an advocate for progressive values and “committed to reform of internal Assembly rules that have kept members disempowered,” she said.

All three remaining candidates are Democrats. Party members collectively have a two-thirds majority in the chamber and comprise a major influence on legislation and funding.

The Assembly Democratic Conference agreed earlier this week that Silver would be gone from the leadership post on Monday, with Morelle as acting speaker until they elect a replacement on Feb. 10.

Heastie’s election now may happen sooner, Lentol said.

Silver led the Assembly for 21 years. He represented the roughly 100 Democratic lawmakers as a group in negotiations with the governor and centralized power through the speaker’s office and leadership posts.

Many legislators said they wanted to take time to review the Assembly’s rules, consider reforms, and have a more open process for vetting and choosing the next speaker instead of having the speaker chosen in Albany’s backrooms and phone calls.

Silver was accused last week by federal prosecutors of collecting nearly $4 million in kickbacks over a decade. He says he’ll be exonerated.

(AP)