New York Assemblyman Greg Ball (R), the controversial conservative who had been waging an aggressive campaign against Rep. John Hall, 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.

The National Republican Congressional Committee spent more than it raised in the month of October, according to fundraising numbers due to be reported to the Federal Election Commission today.

The NRCC raised $3.4 million in October, but spent $3.6 million. That's only slightly more than what the committee brought in during the month September. The committee will report having $4.2 million cash on hand and $2 million in debt at the end of the month.

Much of those expended funds came from the NRCC's independent expenditure in the special election in New York's 23rd congressional district. The committee spent almost $900,000 on the GOP nominee, Dede Scozzafava, who dropped out of the race the weekend before the election and now-Rep. Bill Owens (D-N.Y.) went on to win the seat.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is expected to release their fundraising totals later today.

New York Rep. Timothy H. Bishop, a four-term Democrat from eastern Long Island, has a well-funded challenger on his hands. Randy Altschuler, an entrepreneur touted by Republican officials as a promising challenger, reported $659,000 in campaign receipts for the third quarter, including $450,000 from his own pockets.

Altschuler -- who is hoping to put the GOP back into competition in the 1st District after three comfortable re-election wins by Bishop -- ended the quarter with $538,000 in remaining cash on hand. The challenger got a reporting jump on Bishop, who like all other 2010 candidates must file his report electronically with the Federal Election Commission by the deadline of midnight tonight.

The Suffolk County Democratic Party quickly responded with a release noting that just one of Altschuler's contributions, for $2,300, came from a district resident. Many of his donors are based in New York City.

Bishop had just more than $300,000 in receipts and $516,000 in cash on hand as of June 30, the end of the second quarter reporting period.

New York Rep. Gregory W. Meeks denied Tuesday that he told David A. Paterson -- his home state's embattled Democratic governor -- that the Obama White House does not want him to run when his seat is up in 2010.

But Meeks, a House veteran from the New York City borough of Queens, was vague on the specifics of the conversations he did have with Paterson.

Meeks commented on the situation while making the New York media rounds in the wake of a story published Sunday by the New York Times. That article said President Obama and his political team wanted Paterson to step aside, and asked Meeks, who is close to both men, to deliver the message.

Paterson has suffered from a sharp decline in his approval ratings since March 2008, when he moved up from lieutenant governor to succeed resigned Democratic Gov. Eliot Spitzer, and many Democrats worry that his determination to seek a full term in his own right next year could cost his party the seat.

Despite basement-level approval ratings and calls for him to step aside in 2010, New York Gov. David A. Paterson is moving forward with his election campaign.

Paterson, the former lieutenant governor who ascended to the top post after Eliot Spitzer resigned in 2008, named a campaign manager for his 2010 race on Thursday. Richard Fife, president of RJF Communications Inc. and a senior New York adviser to Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign, will take the helm of the listing Paterson ship.

Fife also managed New York Rep. Carolyn Maloney's aborted Senate run against Kirsten Gillibrand, whom Paterson appointed earlier this year to succeed Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Paterson also has a campaign spokeswoman, Tracy Sefl.

Republican Rep. Peter T. King’s decision to eschew next year’s Senate special election in New York has dealt a serious — though not unexpected — blow to the GOP’s hopes of challenging appointed Democratic incumbent Kirsten Gillibrand.

The New York Daily News reported Monday that King would instead seek a 10th term in the 3rd District on Long Island. King said he reached his decision “after months of deliberation and conversations with family members and friends and advisers,” the newspaper reported.

He had, however, indicated in late June that he was likely to opt out of the Senate race.

New York Assemblyman Jim Tedisco took his share of the blame for the GOP loss in the 20th District's special election last spring. But as he begins to lay the groundwork for a possible 2010 rematch, his shortcomings as a candidate seem to have been forgotten.

Tedisco told the Glen Falls Post-Star Thursday that he has been meeting with Republican Party county chairmen to discuss a possible challenge to Democratic Rep. Scott Murphy, a political unknown who came from well behind in the polls to edge Tedisco, a 30-year Assembly veteran, by barely 700 votes out of more than 160,000 cast. The March 31 special election was held to fill the seat previously held by Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand, who was appointed to the Senate in January after Hillary Rodham Clinton became secretary of State.

"I enjoy being a public servant and I'm looking at the atmosphere now," Tedisco told the paper. "And it certainly has changed since when I ran for congressman in the short eight-week election."

One national Republican aide, who declined to be identified so as to speak candidly, said the party is supportive of a possible Tedisco candidacy in 2010. But he noted that other Republicans could also run for the seat, which represents much of the Hudson River valley and the Catskill Mountains. Former Assembly Leader John Faso, who lost the 2006 governor's race to Democrat Eliot Spitzer by a landslide, is a potential candidate, though he has also expressed interest in running for state comptroller in 2010.

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.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand's latest attempt to shore up support from New York's liberal Democratic base in advance of the 2010 election came Monday when Gillibrand touted an upcoming Armed Services hearing probing the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.

"'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' is an unfair, outdated measure that violates the civil rights of some of our bravest, most heroic men and women. By repealing this policy, we will increase America's strength - both militarily and morally."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is the latest member of the Democratic Party establishment to get behind appointed New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand's 2010 campaign.

Reid, a Nevada Democrat, joined a growing list of Gillibrand backers, including former Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, who announced his support on Thursday.

Gillibrand has been hustling to line up support from congressional colleagues and Democratic support groups in advance of an expected primary challenge by nine-term Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney. Aides to Maloney have said that she will announce in late July that she is a candidate for the 2010 special election.

New York Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand on Tuesday picked up the endorsement of the feminist group Planned Parenthood's political arm -- the latest indication that there is no summertime lull for the appointed senator as she prepares for her 2010 election contest, and the possibility of a serious Democratic primary challenge by Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney.

Maloney, who is in her ninth House term representing a New York City district, is one of a number of prominent Democrats who sharply opposed the January decision by Gov. David A. Paterson to pick Gillibrand to succeed Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Name of Photo (Getty)

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.

Peter King (Getty)

"I have no problem with this," he said of the appointment Wednesday night on MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews. "We as Republicans should hold onto that seat, if we don't it's our fault." McHugh, a nine-term incumbent, represents New York's 23rd District. His appointment precipitates a special election, and there is a chance Democrats can flip the seat, given President Obama's win in the district in the 2008 presidential race.

"I don't think we should be sitting around whining and saying Rahm Emanuel outsmarted us or President Obama outsmarted us," King added. "We should get good candidates, put them up there, and run."

Veteran Rep. Jose Serrano said Wednesday that he is considering a 2010 primary run against Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, even as other possible contenders have dropped out in recent days.

"If Rahm Emanuel is making calls, he has a few more to make," Serrano said of the White House chief of staff.

Rep. Steve Israel, D-N.Y., announced Friday that he would not run for the seat after President Obama lobbied him to stay out.

A bill that would set mortgage standards and aims to curb predatory lending practices was easily passed by the House Thursday on a 300-114 vote, with the support of all but three participating members of the Democratic majority, as well as 60 Republicans.

And the measure proved popular with members from partisan swing districts.

Of the 34 Republican lawmakers from districts that split their tickets to back Democrat Barack Obama in the 2008 election, 25 (or 74 percent) voted for the bill.

The bill was drew much less support, on a percentage basis, from members whose districts went Republican both for president and the House last year. "Aye" votes were cast by just 35 of the 144 Republicans (24 percent) from districts that favored Republican John McCain over Obama.

New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand's female Democratic colleagues are rallying around her as she prepares for a tough primary and general election, with a fundraiser next week in Washington, D.C.

An evening of "cocktails and conversation" hosted by the 12 Democratic senators at Louisiana Sen. Mary L. Landrieu's Washington, D.C., home is scheduled April 29th.

Those interested in co-hosting are asked to give $5,000 per political action committee or $4,800 per individual -- the maximum allowed in an election cycle -- with sponsors asked to give $2,500 per PAC and $2,400 per individual.

The fundraiser is a sign that Gillibrand is keeping her well-oiled fundraising machine chugging after an impressive first quarter where she raised $2.3 million and reported $2.2 million cash on hand. And such solidarity for Gillibrand's candidacy in Washington could bode ill for New York Democrats interested in challenging her in 2010 -- among them Reps. Steve Israel, Carolyn B. Maloney and Carolyn McCarthy.

Greg Ball

"Let's show Greg how much we support and appreciate him by having a great event with a great turnout to start off the campaign!!" wrote volunteer coordinator Jacqui Ambrosino.

All signs indicate Ball will announce that he is taking on second-term Rep. John Hall, though his communications director cautioned that the assemblyman is still in the decision making process.

Ball, 31, just completed a three-day exploratory "listening tour" across the district, which encompasses the lower Hudson Valley including part of Westchester County and Peekskill. The former Air Force lieutenant has served in the Assembly since 2007, where he is the ranking member on the Standing Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions, which oversees the state's public and private corporations.

Steve Israel (Getty)

Israel has yet to file his first quarter report, which is due to the Federal Election Commission by midnight Wednesday.

Israel had demonstrated his fundraising prowess in past campaigns, raising large sums for the Democratic party as well as for his own safe House seat. He will need to rally his entire fundraising network and then some to mount a credible primary challenge to Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, and statewide general election campaign, something he has not ruled out.

Democrats seem to be learning a lesson from the long-running legal battles over the 2008 Minnesota Senate race -- the New York state party and Democratic candidate Scott Murphy responded to the whiff of legal conflict in New York's 20th District special election by forming the New York Victory Protection Fund.

The fundraising committee will allow the Murphy campaign and the state party to jointly raise money for expenses incurred in the current ballot canvassing and counting process, as well as any legal fights that arise. Donors to the committee are not subject to aggregate limits, meaning a donor who already gave the maximum allowed to the Murphy campaign under federal limits can donate again to help with legal fees, up to the federal limit.

The Federal Election Commission ruled in March that the same is true for recount funds established by national party committees, in response to a request by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee regarding fundraising for the Minnesota recount. The two candidates in Minnesota -- Democrat Al Franken and Republican Norm Coleman -- have spent millions on legal fees in the unresolved race.

Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand raised $2.3 million in the first quarter of 2009, the beginnings of what she hopes to be an imposing war chest for the defense of her New York Senate seat in 2010.

"I wanted to personally thank you for your support and let you be the first to know that thanks to an overwhelming show of support from voters all over New York, our campaign shattered our goals," Gillibrand wrote in an e-mail to supporters sent Monday morning.

Gillibrand was appointed to the seat by Gov. David A. Paterson in late January to replace Hillary Rodham Clinton after Clinton was confirmed as secretary of State.

Kirsten Gillibrand (Getty)

The DREAM Act, which was introduced March 26, would amend the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to allow states to provide higher education funding for children who came to the United States as illegal immigrants.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is among the voters whose late-counted ballots will determine the outcome of the race to succed her in New York's 20th District.

Gillibrand, who was appointed to the Senate after Hillary Rodham Clinton became secretary of State, said Wednesday that she voted by absentee ballot. She, of course, cast her ballot for fellow Democrat Scott Murphy, who held a slim lead over veteran Republican state lawmaker Jim Tedisco when counting stopped Tuesday night

All paper ballots, including those cast by absentees, have been impounded under court order, and it is not clear when a winner will be declared.

Will Gillibrand's vote make the difference for Murphy?

"I hope so," she said.

Tuesday's special election in New York's 20th District has received substantial national attention, though it's probably a mistake to read too much into the result of the balloting between Republican James Tedisco and Democrat Scott Murphy.

The most obvious reason is that the Obama administration is barely two months old and that 20 months remain until the 2010 midterm elections, which will be a much broader referendum on the president's policies and the Democratic-run Congress.

Moreover, a history of House special elections dating to 1968, which I compiled and posted on Greg's List, should also give pause to ascribing too much importance to the outcome of a low-turnout election in a district that voted narrowly for Barack Obama in the 2008 election.

Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand is making a last-minute push in the the year's first-quarter fundraising period as she seeks to solidify her grasp on her New York Senate seat. Her campaign has set a goal of raising another $25,000 over the final 39 hours of the filing period, which ends March 31st at midnight.

"To show our broad-based support, our campaign must end this first quarter in the strongest financial position possible," Gillibrand wrote in an e-mail to supporters Monday. "I would be incredibly grateful if you could support my race with whatever you can give now."

Gillibrand, who was appointed to the post by Gov. David A. Paterson in January, no doubt hopes an early show of financial force will make those Democrats mulling a 2010 primary challenge think again. Gillibrand established herself as a tireless fundraiser during her two congressional campaigns in 2006 and 2008, and her ability to raise money for a Senate race that is likely to cost more than $30 million helped earn her the nod to replace Hillary Rodham Clinton, who became secretary of State.

Democrat Scott Murphy scored a big endorsement Wednesday when President Barack Obama sent an e-mail to supporters asking them to back his candidacy in New York's 20th District special election.

"Scott has the kind of experience and background we desperately need right now in Washington," Obama wrote, urging his supporters to chip in by fundraising or volunteering for the first-time candidate and businessman in the last week of the race. Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. followed up with a radio ad for Murphy released Thursday.

Not to be outdone, Murphy's Republican opponent, veteran New York Assemblyman Jim Tedisco rolled out his own big endorsement yesterday -- from the Humane Society.

New York's Democratic special election candidate Scott Murphy is on a fundraising tear, disclosing $354,000 in contributions of $1,000 or above in the past 10 days. A large portion of that -- $77,500 -- was transferred from his joint fundraising committee with the New York Democratic party, while Democrats in Congress chipped in more than $43,000.

Murphy's Republican opponent in New York's 20th District race, longtime Assemblyman Jim Tedisco, reported $115,000 in large-donor contributions in the same time period. Past and present Republican members of Congress gave Tedisco $20,000 -- less than half of what their Democratic counterparts gave Murphy since March 16.

In the closing weeks of the campaign, the two candidates are required to file reports of all donations of $1,000 or more within 48 hours of receipt.

Jim Tedisco

The longtime New York assemblyman has raised more than $30,000 from corporate and trade association political action committees since March 13, new fundraising disclosure reports reveal.

That represents 60 percent of the nearly $55,000 Tedisco reported raising in the time period. Starting March 13, the two campaigns are now required to file reports of all donations they receive of $1000 or more.