Ball, right, stopped in the Town of Wallkill to chat with people, including town Supervisor John Ward

WALLKILL – State Assemblyman Gregory Ball of Patterson, who has been testing the waters for a run against 20th District Congressman John Hall, will announce that he officially will run at a rally in May.

Ball, a Republican, told MidHudsonNews.com Sunday that at a May 9 event in Westchester County, he will officially announce his candidacy against Democrat Hall.

Ball said Americans need him in Congress. “The American family and our way of life, the very concept that if you work hard and do well, the very concept that if you work hard and you can do well, that concept is under attack and the vast majority of the people that I bump into have the same concerns as I do,” he said.

Ball, a retired Air Force captain, said he knows the concerns of veterans and their families.

Hall has been on Veterans Affairs subcommittees in his more than two years in the House and has championed a number of meaningful pieces of legislation on that front.