New York Assemblyman Greg Ball (R), the controversial conservative who had been waging an aggressive campaign against Rep. John Hall (D-N.Y.), announced Saturday that he would abandon his bid for Congress and run for state Senate instead.

In a statement posted on his campaign Web site, Ball said he thought he could have the greatest impact in Albany fighting against "a handful of insiders" who are intent on destroying the state.

Ball's decision also short-circuits a potentially nasty and destructive Republican Congressional primary. Although Ball had the GOP field to himself for months, Westchester County physician Nan Hayworth entered the race in late September, with the apparent blessing of some GOP officials who felt Ball was too controversial a figure to mount an effective campaign against Hall.

They voted for the health care bill. With enough money behind the opposition, could they be voted out of office next year?

Republicans aim to find out with a new effort to raise campaign funds for challengers to two dozen House Democrats who voted for the health care bill earlier this month.

Reverse The Vote Victory Committee was established this week with the Federal Election Commission as a joint fundraising committee that will collect contributions to distribute among 24 GOP challengers.

It's still months until the first nominees will be formally selected in primary elections, so the committee for the time being will give campaign funds to 24 separate "congressional victory committees" that in turn will deliver the funds to party nominees once they are determined.

Republican Nan Hayworth began to roll out her campaign for New York's 19th District this week, and Republicans are optimistic about her candidacy in the race to take on second-term Democrat John Hall.

Hayworth, a prominent ophthalmologist from Westchester County, N.Y., launched a campaign Web site and filed an initial fundraising report on Thursday.

She has raised $168,000 and loaned her campaign another $150,000, giving her $318,000 in cash-on-hand right off the bat.

That puts Hayworth on about even fundraising par with her GOP primary rival, Greg Ball, who has been in the race since the spring. Ball raised $193,000 in the third quarter, giving him $378,000 in total receipts. He will report roughly $213,000 in cash on hand at the end of the third quarter.

New York Assemblyman Greg Ball became the 15th candidate to join the National Republican Congressional Committee's "Young Guns" program Monday.

Ball, who is taking on second-term Democratic Rep. John Hall in New York's 19th District, was added to the first tier of the party program for GOP candidate recruits, known as "On the Radar," part of a three-step process toward earning the label "Young Gun." The program began in 2007 as a counterweight to a similar system used by Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee to groom their top crop of challengers, called "Red to Blue."

"By achieving 'On the Radar' status, Ball has already proven his ability to build a successful campaign structure and achieve important fundraising goals," the NRCC said in a release.

To move up, candidates are expected to meet certain outreach and fundraising benchmarks.

The prospect of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani running for New York governor in 2010 has some GOP congressional candidates sounding giddy.

Republican Assemblyman Greg Ball told CQ Politics he was "jumping for joy" at the idea of a Giuliani campaign, which is starting to look like a genuine possibility, according to a New York Times story published Tuesday. The Times reports that Giuliani "has told associates that he will decide on a candidacy within 30 to 60 days, as he weighs whether he can be elected statewide."

"If Rudy Giuliani has coattails it would be in Hudson Valley where he polls extremely well," said Ball, who is challenging second-term Democrat John Hall for the 19th District seat. Ball noted that his district is home to "a lot of New York City cops and firemen" who are a natural constituency for Giuliani.

Republican state Assemblyman Greg Ball outraised Democratic Rep. John Hall in the second quarter, foreshadowing what could be a tough re-election battle for the second-term congressman.

Ball reported a total of $182,000 in receipts for the second quarter, compared to $161,000 for Hall.

Almost all of Ball's money came from individual donors, rather than political action committees. Hall's fundraising numbers, meanwhile, are well down from the comparable period in the last election cycle. Hall reported raising $419,000 for the second quarter of 2007, and had $666,000 cash on hand.

Hall still has a comfortable cash-on-hand cushion this time around, with $292,000 to Ball's $100,000.

Hall scored one of the biggest upsets of the 2006 campaign cycle, defeating six-term incumbent Sue W. Kelly by 2 percentage points. But he wasn't seriously tested in his 2008 race against Peekskill Republican Kieran Michael Lalor.

Ball got an early start on his campaign for the 19th District seat, declaring his candidacy in April. And he has been conducting aggressive outreach and fundraising since.

UPDATE: A sharp-eyed Democratic aide pointed out (and CQ Politics confirmed) that approximately $20,000 of Ball's fundraising total included in his second quarter report came from donations made in the first quarter. Ball was actively exploring a bid and raising funds prior to his April announcement; he didn't have to report those funds until he was an official candidate

Subtract $20,000 and Ball and Hall's receipts for the second quarter were essentially even. Still not great result for Hall, given his comparative receipts in 2007.

Duncan Hunter, a retired Republican who once chaired the Armed Services Committee, has decided that Iraq War veterans are the perfect candidates to revive the Republican Party in 2010.

Hunter -- a Vietnam War vet who briefly sought the 2008 Republican presidential nomination -- is already backing two such candidates as they launch challenges to two of the more junior members of the House Democratic majority: Jesse Kelly, who wants to take on two-term incumbent Gabrielle Giffords in Arizona's 8th District, and Vaughn Ward, whose target in Idaho's 1st District is freshman Democrat Walt Minnick.

Hunter will be attending a series of brunches, receptions and a golf outing in Tucson this weekend with Kelly, who said Hunter is a big attraction in conservative circles in his district in Arizona's southeastern corner. "He did very well in early presidential polls down here," Kelly noted, referring to Hunter's 2008 bid.

During much of his House career, Hunter represented a California district that stretched from San Diego east to the border of Kelly's home state of Arizona, though for the past decade the 52nd District has been confined to San Diego County in California's southwest corner.

Republican Assemblyman Greg Ball is officially in the race for New York's 19th Congressional District seat.

Ball, who joined the New York Assembly in 2007, had been exploring a race against second-term Rep. John Hall since earlier this year and has already conducted extensive outreach in the district.

"This is going to be a positive campaign to reclaim the American dream for blue collar families in the Hudson Valley," Ball pledged Saturday in Westchester County. "Blue collar folks like my family and friends feel shafted by elitist politicians on both sides of the aisle. The unsustainable spending, the bailouts, the corporate welfare, the runaway defense contracts; all of this must stop."