Additionally, Ball has been vocal in his opposition to medical marijuana and controversially advocated for the torture of a suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing.

He organized exhibits and demonstrations to recognize the contributions made by Hispanic countries and cultures, and hosted Alberto Gonzales, then White House Counsel, in 2003.

He was awarded an Air Force Achievement Medal for outstanding service by General John P. Jumper and was honorably discharged from active duty in January 2005, with the rank of captain.

Upon his separation from active duty, Ball was recruited by the Antioch, Illinois, based Exceed International, a commercial development corporation with a presence in India, Turkey and Tunisia.

The Poughkeepsie Journal noted that Ball's political action committee made a donation to the Courage Cup charity for the use of the tent at the event.

[8] Ball has stated that "since my election victory, we have made extraordinary progress by elevating the debate on tough issues like taxes, illegal immigration and dysfunction in Albany.

[39][40] Ball stated that "It was not easy getting up as the new guy and standing up to tell a group of people what they don't want to hear" but his speech became so popular that soon dozens of reporters began calling, he appeared on Fox News, excerpts from the floor speech popped up on numerous political blogs, his campaign web site received so many visits that its server crashed, and, a YouTube video of his remarks was ranked 80th among new videos the day it was uploaded.

[41][42] Although the remarks were contentious, they echoed a fifty-six page study from the nonpartisan New York University School of Law's Brennan Center for Justice, which referred to the legislature as "the least deliberative and most dysfunctional in the nation".

[46] According to The Journal News, one key to Ball's success was that his campaign identified the concern local voters cared most about: illegal immigration.

[53] Ball has worked to promote businesses that hire legal immigrant laborers, and has begun to create a database for usage on his campaign website.

[3] Archived 2012-04-02 at the Wayback Machine On August 26, 2008, a local newspaper known as The Putnam Times published court documents surrounding the breakup between Ball and a Washington, D.C., woman in 2003.

Ball blamed Leibell for hiring private investigators for the newspaper article, and for funding the campaign of his Democratic challenger, John Degnan.

Ball told The Daily News that "It was just a heartfelt breakup where both parties jointly requested a 'cooling off' period, and the entire matter was mutually dismissed.

"[77] While The Putnam Times, a local paper incorrectly reported that Ball violated the order of protection by following the woman to Israel on July 20, News Channel 12, a regional network, pointed out that order of protection was filed six days earlier on July 14, and court records state Ball traveled to Israel on June 20.

[82] Initially, News 12 analyst Mike Edelman called the report "not credible," and many questioned the timing of the complaint, as the former staff member waited a year to write the letter until a few days before the primary election.

[83][84] The previous day, Ball had released e-mails from his former Chief of Staff, which stated that Perreault was ready to "go forward with a lawsuit and 'embellish' some of the details," calling the letter to Silver into question.

[85] Ball said the letter was part of a "smear campaign", and that the ex-Chief of Staff was a "mole" for State Senator Vincent Leibell, who was backing his primary opponent.

[80] The Assembly Ethics committee met in October 2008, reaching a 'not guilty' verdict[87][88] and ruling that no harassment ever occurred, and unanimously voted to throw out the charges against Assemblyman Ball.

], defeated endorsed Republican candidate and Somers town supervisor Mary Beth Murphy in a primary election in September 2010.

[95] Ball spoke out against publishing the names and addresses of handgun permit holders, insulting the editors of The Journal News, and accusing them of privacy violation.

[96] Gregory Ball has taken a strong, public stance against medical marijuana since bills regarding the topic have come before the NYS senate after passing through the Assembly.

Next topic..." In April 2013, Ball argued on Twitter that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, one of the perpetrators of the Boston Marathon bombing, should be tortured in order to obtain information on any possible attacks in the future.

Filings received after the deadline at the New York State Board of Elections showed funds spent on “campaign-related travel” that occurred after his announcement to not seek a second term.