A rhyming election?
In a press release yesterday, state Assemblyman Greg Ball, R-Patterson, said he was “possibly testing the waters for a U.S. Congressional run.” That could put him in a contest against Rep. John Hall, D-Dover Plains, who is in his second term. For those playing along at home, the next election isn’t until 2010.
The assemblyman, who is also in his second term, concluded with this in his statement:
“When I make a final decision, I will announce it when the time is right, but it will ultimately be up to the people. Right now I am focused on this state’s fiscal crisis and our dysfunctional state government’s inability and unwillingness to deliver serious and substantial relief to Main Street.”
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this could be great news!!!
Hey Greg your a horrible Assemblyman at best… let it go man, you’re just a tool.
Ball puts it out there that he might run, but then also says that’s not his concern and he cares about the people.
Am I the only person that can see through this. Ball will run and he will start asap. He will do whatever it takes and stop at no cost. He is Ball he only cares about himself and no one else.
He is a selfish human being who hasn’t done anything but feed his own ego. Mr. Ball is worthless he doesn’t even care about his friends or family. He uses people to get further in life he keeps people in his life for ONLY connections and sucks them dry. The smart ones see through this and get out as fast as they can. If you don’t being anything to the table thats useful for Ball then he could care less to keep you in his life.
RUN PEOPLE RUN AWAY FROM MR.BALL
That’s all Ball and his friends do. They look to further their own careers on our dime. Just look at Rights and Yee in Southeast. Birds of a feather.
Ball’s a jerk.
NOT!
Greg Ball has been talking about running for Congress since before he ran for the Assembly seat.
Not being a person of means, he went to the Statehouse simply as a means to form a “launching pad” to get to Washington.
This method of governance raises some severe ethical questions because it can be argued that for the past years Ball has been a state representative only to serve his own personal desires and not the constituents he’s supposed to represent.
yet mike risinit will continue to report it as breaking news every time the ball’d one utters the word congress. anyone with half a brain does indeed know that greg ball never cared about the state assembly. nearly a week after first being elected in 2006 he was already spreading rumors about running for higher office. pretty disingenuous and disgusting.
but the real issue here is ball’s record. it’s a hodgepodge of misstatements and half-truths. the ball’d one still is ranked as one of the least effective members of the legislature, having passed not a single bill since being elected. no other freshman republican assemblyman (the super low man on the totem pole) holds that dubious distinction. so much for ball’s famous excuse.
by contrast, john hall has accomplished quite a bit for the people of the 19th. he knows how to bring home the bacon and remind people of it without being pushy or obnoxious, unlike a certain assemblyman.
Greg Ball is Putnam County’s version of Blagovitch (sp?)
Just wait – he will eventually be disgraced. Hopefully before he ruins Putnam
Did anyone catch Greg Ball’s announcement of his exploratory committee? Over 150 in attendance – VERY strong support for this early on. 19th is a swing district – 50/50. With the economy tanking and voter dissatisfaction, John Hall could very well be in trouble and it looks like Greg Ball is positioned for an upset. No one thought Willis Stephens would lose either…
I don’t necessarily disagree with your rationale, but it is important to note one considerable difference between Stephens and Hall. Will Stephens was asleep at the switch while John Hall is already well aware of the potential challenge, not just from Ball but any other Hudson Valley Republican. Look at the campaign he mounted against Kieran Lalor. He didn’t take anything for granted. He fought for his re-election.
John Hall has millions of dollars on hand. Ball presently sits on at least $100,000 of debt.
November 2010 is far away. Let’s see what happens.
how can anyone be positioned for anything 20 months in advance? there’s no guarantee ball will even be the gop nominee. the only thing ball is “positioned” to do right now is embarrass himself further. running for the us congress isn’t like running for the state assembly. look at the crap that came out about ball during his last campaign. ball has definitely has skeletons in his closet and the dccc will be relentless in uncovering each and every one.
Good points, merchant. And remember, the DCCC doesn’t go to home-town reporters like Mike Risinit who handle Ball with kid gloves. They’ll expose this creep to the national media…
If anybody’s going to expose anything about any one of these politicians, they damn sure better do it before that person is elected to whatever office because, short of serial-killing (and even this is questionable,) once they’re in there, their Speakers, their “ethics” committees and their “Inspector Generals” not only take little interest in their larcenies, bribery, and actionable indiscretions, they minimize and dismiss them.
as a former ball supporter i know that he knows
what he’s doing and will pose a real challenge
to the congressman.. he has hardcore supporters
that attract to him over his hyped up anti immigrant
rhetoric… simply put, he excuses their racism and
xenophobia and that’s why i no longer support greg
ball… that and he attacks good people like vinnie
leibell… sure, people like the consultant will do a 180 on their principles and support this nut job because republicans always fall in line but he’ll ultimately fail..
by and large that is the idea isn’t it…greg clearly
just won an election…and is the natural choice to
challenge john hall..but the race is over a year
away..and it all depends on how Obama does with
his bail out…if it works and the economy gets
better I doubt ball will give up his safe seat
Why is Greg Ball the “natural choice” to challenge Hall? Because he’s been talking about it since before he was sworn into his first term?
I would say that the natural choice to challenge Hall would be either a) legislator who has a record of possitive accomplishments, good approval ratings, low negatives and no baggage or b) a multi-millionaire who can self fund.
Since Greg Ball neither fits into choice A or B, how then is he the “natural choice” Mr. Consultant?
because from an electoral point of view he wins in a district contained in the congressional district ….ie
he has a base…as for money if he is viable the republican
national congressional campaign committee will target the
race and money will come in from all over the country
as for your view of positive accomplishments, the test
of his electability will be the success or failure of
the Obama bailout plan voted for by Hall..
If having a base withing the district makes one viable, then why not Ed Diana – certainly he has a base as Orange County is the largest county in the 19th. Or what about George Oros, he has a base and a long list of positive accomplishments.
The bottom line is that Greg Ball, once you peel away the smoke and mirrors, is not a top tier candidate.
He’s only slightly more viable than Kieran Lalor and that’s because he has been elected to something.
ball’s winning margin is lots better than the others
ball has the ability to raise money…you have to deal
with the fact that ball is an attractive candidate
with charisma…sorry if it bothers you …but he
is able to generate lots of press..no one knows who
ed diana is…
i see that lunch ball bought the consultant is paying off in spades.
I have yet to meet greg for your information…and I doubt
that a lunch would pursuade me of anything…you can ask
around..I usually end up taking others to lunch at the club!
You must be a Ball insider because you’re twisting the facts. The 150 people were there for another event, albeit a Ball fundraiser, but it was a topic and a speaker that could attract non-Ball supporters. To say that their were 150 people there for his announcement is about as close to a lie as you can get.
hey announcement you are going to get a real surprise
in the next few days…one that will set the tone
for the 2010 race in the 19th cd
Consultant… maybe so, but it doesn’t change the fact that the post I was referring to was BS. BTW, nice flip-flop on Ball. You’ve lost a lot of credibility.
no flip flop at all…I supported greg in the last election
just suggested he and vinny sit down and iron things out
not a bad suggestion for an up and coming republican who
wants to run for congress. and I still have never met
greg ..and certainly not for lunch…but i am always
available as a senior advisor to republican candidates
with an occasional exception obviously