The race in 99th
There was a whole mess of stuff related to the race in the 99th Assembly District in my in-box today, material that piled up during a week off. If you’ve forgotten, the 99th is represented by Assemblyman Greg Ball, R-Patterson, who is facing a challenge from Republican John Degnan.
For starters, there was this press release sent out on Saturday at noon by the Republican Assembly Campaign Committee. Among other things, it faulted Degnan for having the “Putnam County Democrat political boss” (a.k.a. Democratic Chairwoman Lynne Eckardt) co-host an upcoming fund raiser for Degnan.
She is listed as a contact person on the invitation. But then so are Linda Berger, a registered Conservative and wife of Southeast Conservative Party Chairman Joe Berger, and Denis Castelli, a Southeast Town Republican Committee member. (If you’re having problems downloading the documents, right click on the links and choose “open in a new window.)
The release also faulted Degnan for accepting the endorsement of a “left-wing extremist group,” which is a reference to the Working Families Party. Degnan isn’t alone as a Republican in receiving the WF endorsement. At least seven incumbent GOP Assembly members received the WF endorsement, which Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco, R-Schenectady, said was OK. That’s because, according to him, they also weren’t endorsed by the Democrats, as was Degnan.
Also in my inbox, was an email from Ball, sharing his two newest campaign commercials. One is here, the other is here.
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Greg “The Fraud” Ball will be exposed this campaign season for the phony that he is.
Degnan is a DEMOCRAT, not a Republican.
Everytime there is a story on “Politics on the Hudson” site that has Ball mentioned, it becomes a Ball on the Hudson site. This man probably enjoys being in the spotlight ! Perhaps the blog should have one just for Ball !
how you’ve been registered your whole life doesn’t matter? Just because people from all sides have banded together to defeat Ball doesn’t change the fact that Degnan has always been a Republican.
Jacob, what the hell are you talking about?
John Degnan is a registered Republican. That’s a fact.
well as predicted this will be a nasty primary..and an
even nastier general…i am guessing that the willis
stepens contingent will be out for blood…and that
ball’s detractors willl be doing what the can to
defeat him..it is indeed unfortunate with so
few republicans that greg could not manage to
mend fences in two years
To this day, he makes every effort he can to be as divisive as he can. Since he can’t run on accomplishments, it’s the only thing he can do. Anything he’s touched is surrounded in controversy.
the first rule of politics is keep your friends close
and your enemies closer…in order to forge alliances
making enemies is not the way to go…..however the
number of enemies he has made has yet to be determined
Problem is when people meet Ball, he comes on as a person’s best friend…but that fades fast. He is not what he portrays to be. We should have comment column…the many faces of Ball !!!!!!
Did a piece many years ago…the two faces of
nick longo…defeated and incumbant councilman
with tom dickerson..now a supreme court justice
brilliant of course!!!
The problem with Greg is that he’s never answered the questions about how he got out of the military early from his committment. The military is not a Fortune 500 company, it is place with hard and fast rules. He received a million dollar scholarship from the Air Force Academy, graduated, was stationed in a ROTC unit at St. Je’s College in Philly, which is unheard of, then got stationed as a Protocol Officer in Washington DC (COMPLETELY unheard of). The question begs…..WHY? He would do so much more in my eyes if he just came clean about what happened in the military, but at this point it’s clear to me that he can’t come clean about it. Something definitely happened for him to have such a questionable military tour. One thing is for sure: he scammed the US Gov’t big time.
AS LONG AS HIS DISCHARGE WAS HONORABLE IT IS A NON ISSUE
Was the discharge honorable? That was never clear to me in this running battle on this blog. My father was in military and had a copy of his discharge papers and would show them to anyone that asked. I always wondered why Ball does not just make his discharge papers public. Don’t you have to do that anyway to get veteran benefits like the property tax break for vets?
Also, I must say that you don’t last long in politics when you are battling within your own party and the opposing party. I don’t know Ball, but he seems to have too many enemies and history says you don’t win a two-front war. I also wonder why he did not mend fences over past two years.
Greg Ball still has not had one piece of legislation passed that he was the key sponsor of. Greg Ball still has not explained what happened to the $10,000. he misappropriated from a charity foundation for children that he was in charge of in Washington, DC. Greg Ball is calling John Degnan a Democrat for accepting the Democratic line, this is the same Democratic line that Greg Ball tried to get two years and was unsuccessful. Greg Ball is the biggest fraud in the area and will be exposed when the time is right
John Degnan has made it very clear that if the Democrat’s want to endorse him knowing that he is a registered Republican and has been one his entire life and they accept the fact that his philosophical beliefs are going to be with the Republicans then he said he would accept the line.
That position is clear and precise.
JB, but who is Degnan going to caucus with? I am assuming the Democrats but let me know if this assumption is incorrect. For the assembly, it is not as big an issue as with the Senate, but it is still important.
a minority member of the assembly by definition cannot
pass a piece of legislation..you are electing him
to express a republican point of view
Why do so many people not understand that simple fact?
does the most recent piece of trash from Greg Ball claim that he’s passed 17 pieces of legislation? He even adds, more than any other freshmen assemblyman.
Consultant, you are correct the number of enemies is yet to be determined. The problem is that the bulk of the voters don’t have a clue about any of this and just pull whatever lever they’re used to. An informed voter could not vote for Ball.
The question is not whether he was honorably discharged or not. I guess everybody is OK with him getting a top-dollar education at our expense and not living up to his end? He was supposed to serve 6 years active and 2 in reserve as part of his contract. He did not, so he took advantage of all of us. I’m not OK with it.
I voted for Greg in both the last primary and general election. I don’t think it’s as simple as the consultant makes it sound. There is more to this than just the Willis Stephens contingent and Ball detractors. There are plenty of us who have become disgusted with his kind of politics.
The job of John Degnan and his campaign will be to show the people of the 99th Assembly District that Greg Ball is completely ineffective. I am sure that John Degnan’s campaign will expose Greg Ball for the fraud that he is.
Greg Ball cannot simply run a campaign of empty promises, he now has a record to run on. Unfotunately for Greg Ball his list of accomplishments is a BIG FAT ZERO!
Consultant,
Ball has refused to release his DD214. He has soemthing to hide if so many people are asking about his military service and he refuses to address it, what about his assignment while on active duty? He gets a 41 million scholarship, and he gets assigned to ROTC at Saint Joe’s College in Philly? After some very bizarre behavior and run-ins with bosses, he’s sent to Bolling AFB which isn’t even a real AFB, and they make him a Protocol Officer? Knowing that nothing in the military moves at a quick pace, Ball got out after 3 years of service
I count 9 of 9 when it comes to Greg Ball.
Narcissistic Personality Disorder
A pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), need for admiration, and lack of empathy, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by five (or more) of the following1:
has a grandiose sense of self-importance
is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love
believes that he or she is “special” and unique
requires excessive admiration
has a sense of entitlement
is interpersonally exploitative
lacks empathy
is often envious of others or believes others are envious of him or her
shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes
Another real problem with Greg Ball’s divisive brand of politics is that once elected no one wants to work with them.
Just look at his record in the Assembly, there really isn’t one. And look at his henchmen in Southeast Mr. Rights and Mr. Yee. They have so divided the Town Board, not necessarily a bad thing,but worse they have gone after the hard working Town employees and besmirched their reputations.
Back to Ball, his campaign ads are nothing but out and out lies. People see them and assume that he is telling the truth. The voters never take the time to research what he is saying and verify the validity of his claims. He got elected with lies and innuendo and unfulfillable promises. Now he must pay the price and get unelected.
What ‘samuel Clemens’ posted here is rather frightening personality type of person. Do people like this reach a saturation point and explode?
putnam county democrats endorsed degnan a republican – ugh on them ! they also endorsed a republican for some county legislative seat – double ugh ! and if that wasn’t a crime then the fact that that republican also drives a HUMMER makes the endorsement a felony ! shame on those democrats !