Westchester Democrats go for Degnan
-
- June
- 9
Democratic committees in the Westchester portion of the 99th Assembly District announced their support this morning for John Degnan, a Republican, in his bid to unseat state Assemblyman Greg Ball, R-Patterson.
Degnan, a former Brewster mayor and trustee, was endorsed last week by the Putnam Democratic Committee. Democratic Party chairs from Yorktown, Somers and North Salem added their endorsement today.
Ball, who is seeking a second term, has the backing of the Westchester Republicans. Degnan was endorsed by the Putnam Republicans.
This entry was posted
on Monday, June 9th, 2008 at 10:58 am by Mike Risinit.
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so does that mean degnan has republican support from
putnam as well as democratic support…
Degnan has support from the Putnam Republicans, Democrats Westchester democrats. Ball only has support from Westchester Republicans. Pawling republicans have not endorsed either candidate. Clearly the tarnish has worn off the Ball. People have seen his divisive rhetoric create more problems than he ever could have solved. He also has lied repeatedly about what he can do as an assemblyman. He uses the fear amongst voters to garner their support. Of special note is that apparently his campaign does not even know what John Degnan looks like. He continues to send out campaign literature with the wrong photo in them, even though he has been sued by the person in the photo. What a loosing campaign and they ahve barely begun.
Ten people at this Somers event. Only one politico there, Kaplowitz, even though Sandy Galef was in town for her tax cap forum in Put valley. Don Peters (D-Yorktown) going for Ball. This is gonna be a wacky one.
That is clearly a photo of Degnan. On the “Team Brewster” Google Picasaweb, its labeled as a photo of Degnan. Same hairline, same eyebrows, same ears… if the Assemblyman was getting sued we’dve heard something about it. He used an embarrassing photo of Willis Stephens, so it should come as no surprise that hes taken the most hideous looking photo of Degnan that he could find. I’m surprised he used that one, the opener on his website is even worse.
forgetting about the photo for moment..what is the
main reason that putnam republicans and presumably Pawling
republicans are not falling in behind Ball..he is the
incumbant republican!
Why? Becauase Ball crossed Putnam’s GOP powerbroker Vinnie Leibell starting with the county sales tax exemption vote.
The “enbarrassing photo of Willis Stephens” was Photo shopped, and it was a very crude and childish thing to do. As to the picture of Degnan, that is not him. He does not have a build like that, nor does he stand in such a fashion. Nice try, but phony pictures and phony claims will not get Ball re-elected.
Mike: The same reason they were not behind him in 2006. Its the same people on the Republican Committee. Personal loyalty means more in Putnam County then party loyalty or ideology.
The Pawling Committee is controlled by Beth Coursen, a former Willis Stephens staffer. I’m surprised that Ball was able to split it 5-5. The Southeast Committee is controlled by Willis Stephens. No surprise that they would not endorse Ball. When it comes to Republican voters though, Ball has the support (his candidates won their primaries in 2007 against Team Stephens). The towns of Mahopac, and Patterson, who have no loyalty to Stephens, backed Ball.
The people that you hear out and about supporting Degnan, Republicans and Democrats such as Dennis Castelli, Peter Hansen, Art Hanley, JR Folchetti, etc., all owe him their jobs, or were members of Team Brewster with him. Its no surprise that they are vociferously backing him. As you would expect Michael Rights or Dwight Yee to back Ball.
All that aside, real voters don’t really care about the personal machinations of the party apparatus. When it comes to the voters, you’re still looking at a young conservative incumbent who had record setting primary numbers, raised more money from more individuals then any other minority member except the minority leader, and was the top vote getting in the 99th district, receiving more votes in 2006 than Spitzer, Cuomo, Leibell, Hevesi, and Hall.
Fred Grant is also on point. There are certain people you just don’t cross. Mike, its like going against Nick Spano in Yonkers.
Correction: I meant to type county sales tax “extension” vote, by which I mean the county’s request to the state legislature for an additional bump in the rate. Bondi asked for it, Leibell agreed, but Ball balked and was critical of it. I think that was the initial point of divergence between the two.
Thank you for the information I appreciate it, re and
Fred…Vinny and Greg ought to sit down and iron out
whatever differences they have..as Diane Feinstein
did for Obama and Hillary…someone ought to make the call..
this year republicans do not need an intraparty fight…
The issue with Ball has nothing to do with one person, it has to do with all Republicans, it has to do with loyalty to the Republican Party which Greg Ball has none. Ball is the biggest phony we have in the NYS Assembly. Ball continually tries to undermined good republicans, if you disagree with him, he considers you his enemy, if you agree with him, he wants you to become his puppet. Ball has tried to create his own political machine by running candidates AGAINST incumbent republican office holders. Ball is simply getting a taste of his own medicine. The people who know Greg Ball the best are the residents of Putnam and Dutchess counties, that is why Ball was unsuccessful at getting either endorsement.
Ball runs around taking about John Degnan accepting the endorsement of the Democratic Party, however, Ball thought it was OK in 2006 when he was begging for the Democratic Party endorsement.
Please take the time to study Ball and his lies, look at the statistics that he throws out without any backup data to substantiate them, Ball is the King of off Phonies.
John Degnan will be a breath of fresh air for the residents of the 99th Assembly District.
Greg Ball epitomizes everything that is wrong with the Republican Party. His self-centered, arrogant attitude has alienated almost every single elected official within his district. He attacked Sen. Leibell and threatened to run a Primary against him. He attacked the entire Putnam Legislature, which is almost entirely Republican. He called for Majority Leader Joe Bruno to resign, repeatedly, while at the same time Spitzer described Ball as “my favorite Republican Assemblyman”. Ball ran a divisive primary in 2006 against the incumbent Republican Assemblyman and continued in 2007 by organizing many divisive Republican Primaries. He supported Paul Greenwood in North Salem over the GOP choice of Tom Belcastro. He supported Michael Rights and other candidates in Southeast over the GOP choice. He supported Tony Fusco, Connie King Munday, Billy Hoag and Gerard Ahler (a Democrat) in Carmel over the choices of the GOP. He supported Don Peters (a Democrat) in Yorktown over RoseMarie Panio.
How is Greg Ball good for anyone but Greg Ball? He does not do his job. His voice is irrelevant in Albany and he serves only to promote himself, raising his name i.d. in hopes of running for Congress and then Governor. This is not speculation. This is what Greg Ball has told many, many people and even one newspaper.
The Westchester Republicans did support Ball. But only because the Degnan camp screwed up the nominating process. Rumor has it that among the 5 people from the 99th who were present, the majority of the proxies they were carrying were going to go for Degnan. That’s a major screw-up on his part but the endorsement does not mean Ball has unanimous support in Westchester. There are many Republicans who will not carry petitions for Ball and who will actually actively oppose his candidacy. I am one of them.
More proof the Putnam Co. Republicans are out of touch. They nominate a Democrat to run on the Republican line against a real Republican.
Greg Ball will squash Degnan 2x and make the Putnam GOP look like the out of touch RINOs they are.
All those people you mentioned that had Greg Ball’s support won their primaries and general elections. You’re using the term “GOP Choice” liberally (pun intended} as most of those people were are insiders who thought they had some kind of birthright to office holding and don’t like it when a regular citizen steps up to challenge them.
A perfect example is Don Peters, a loyal Republican for years who was shut out by Panio, he had no choice but to run as a Democrat and low and behold he defeated her.
Ball and Spitzer were both elected on platforms of reform, so of course they were going to work together at first, but the split was obvious once the illegal immigrant driver’s license bill came out.
And calling Sen. Bruno to resign after the FBI raids his home is not really divisive, there were other Republican Assemblymen and Senators who did the same.
Would a primary against Sen. Leibell be so bad? He was the one who carried the 18.68% property tax hike/.5% sales tax hike to Albany after Ball refused.
Somers Republican summed it up perfectly. “Ball ran a divisive primary in 2006 against the incumbent Republican Assemblyman”
That’s what this is all about.
And it wasn’t so divisive, the incumbent Republican Assemblyman lost 5 to 1, couldn’t pull 30% of the vote, and now we’re going give his proxy a rematch.
Ball sticks to his guns, he’ll run primaries against RINOs, its doesn’t strike me that he criticized the entire Putnam Legislature after they proposed a 40% increase in the property tax levy. We need that kind of gumption against the Westchester legislature.
Would Degnan do it any differently? Doubtful. He seems like a good guy. Both are better then Willis Stephens III.
using rosemarie panio as someone ball opposed is not
the best example …she was an interim chairwoman at
best who claimed credit for putting faso “over the top”
apparently greg ball has a lot of enthusiastic support
from republicans who can’t stand the status quo…I suggest
that greg and vinny leibell bury the hatchet…because
greg can pose a threat to him in the long run if he (greg)
wins again…a la pataki and goodhue…republicans should
try to work things out among the family…if they can
before the fight hurts every republican running…
Willis Stephens was the old guard…and the old guard
was on the ropes…Panio was a member of that genre
as well…Ball has the support of the republican county
committee and to the extent that the committee represents
republicans in his district that is significant…if in
fact all the insurgents supported by ball won their
primaries and their generals…the people have spoken…
stop the war!!
“Ball runs around taking about John Degnan accepting the endorsement of the Democratic Party, however, Ball thought it was OK in 2006 when he was begging for the Democratic Party endorsement.”
YES, he begged but never got it because he is a turd
and it’s time to WIPE AND FLUSH!!!!
It appears to me when the consultant talks politics he does have a good grasp on what goes on north of Interstate 287.
The consultant has no clue on what goes on in northern Westchester county,Putnam and Dutchess counties. The consultant is a major player in lower Westchester and his views are usually based with facts when he discusses lowere Westchester, but when it comes to the intricacies of the 99th Assembly District, the consultant is lacking in detailed knowledge. It does appear that someone is feeding him inadequate information. The word on the street amongst the average voter in the 99th Assembly District is that they have had enough of Greg Ball’s lies and deception and they want a change for the better. John Degnan is the change they we all need in the 99th Assembly District.
I meant SOUTH of 287.
It appears to me when the consultant talks politics he does have a good grasp on what goes on SOUTH of Interstate 287.
Jb…you may be right..but for now it appears greg has
the support of the westchester party and will have to
duke it out for everything else…which is why I am
advising a meeting between the two major protagonists
There’s really nothing to meet about.
Greg will never change.
You’re either somebody who still beleives his BS or someone who has found out the real the Greg.
Greg will either get by on another campaign of deceipt and fear or he won’t.
No middle ground can be reached.
Ball gives the impression that he thinks he is far superior to any other elected official and that he can do better. Problem is how Ball goes about treating people. He may smile to their face but behind their backs he is devious and would work hard to make a person look bad regardless if they are same party or not. There is no working with Ball….he is power hungry and only want to give orders and blame others if not okay.
Lets hope all those people in Heritage Hills wake up and realize Ball is not what he says he is.
Mr. Degnan go and meet the Heritage people who need to be educated about Ball.