Indicted state Sen. Malcolm Smith is getting some divine intervention in his bid for re-election: an endorsement from the most influential pastor in his Queens district.
Powerhouse preacher Rev. Floyd Flake, a former congressman and senior pastor at the 20,000-member Greater Allen A.M.E Church, told The Post Saturday he’s backing Democrat Smith’s re-election despite pending criminal charges alleging the senator tried to buy his way onto the Republican line for mayor last year.
“I’m with Malcolm after looking at the records of all the candidates. I don’t see the productivity from the other candidates that Malcolm has put into the community,” Flake said of his protégé and congregant.
Flake’s support is a godsend for Smith, who is fighting for his political life in a Sept. 9 Democratic Party primary face-off against former Councilman Leroy Comrie and lawyer Munir Avery.
Virtually the entire Democratic Party establishment and most of the labor unions have dumped Smith in favor of Comrie to serve the borough’s 14th Senatorial District.
Flake, who served in Congress from 1987 to 1997, cited his own tax-evasion and embezzlement indictment from two decades ago as reason not to abandon Smith. Those charges were dropped.
A spokeswoman for Comrie brushed off Flake’s endorsement.
“With the support of over a million union members from across the city and state, nearly every elected official in Queens and thousands of Southeast Queens residents Leroy Comrie is going to send a clear message on election day — voters are tired of the same corrupt politics in Albany and are ready for change,” the spokeswoman said. “Indicted politician Malcolm Smith will have plenty of time to focus on his upcoming trial after he loses on election day.”