New York Assemblyman Ball drops Hall challenge to pursue state Senate bid

Republicans could be getting a break in upstate New York, where state Assemblyman Greg Ball (R) says he will run for state Senate rather than against Rep. John Hall (D-N.Y.).

Ball announced Saturday that he would make the switch. His exit clears the primary for ophthalmologist Nan Hayworth, who recently got in the race and has caught the eye of the national party.

Ball, meanwhile, has a flamboyant personal style and political history that rubbed some the wrong way. At the same time, he was raising more money than Hall and looked to be a formidable obstacle to Hayworth.

The timing is interesting, given that Ball released a poll this week making the case for his viability. The poll was eventually revealed to not have sampled all parts of the district, though, leading some to accuse Ball of providing misleading information.

He will now run for the 40th district in the state Senate, a closely divided chamber that has switched control multiple times just this year.

Ball said on his website that "the local elections on Nov. 3 illustrated, quite clearly, that there is a huge opportunity to reclaim this state, to rebuild New York in the image of smaller and more efficient government while proactively reversing our state's openly hostile business climate.

"In the State Senate, I intend to do exactly that."