A new poll released today by Siena College finds Republican Assemblyman Greg Ball leading Democratic Westchester County Legislator Michael Kaplowitz by 5 percentage points.

According to Siena, Ball has a 49-44% lead over Kaplowitz in the hotly contested race.

A new poll released today by Siena College finds Republican Assemblyman Greg Ball leading Democratic Westchester County Legislator Michael Kaplowitz by 5 percentage points.

According to Siena, Ball has a 49-44% lead over Kaplowitz in the hotly contested race.

The survey finds that while Kaplowitz has the support of 85% of Democrats, up from 80%, Ball has the support of 77% of Republicans, up from 68%. Ball has also incrased his lead among independent voters from 18 points to 29 points.

Saying "It's time to take a stand and say enough is enough," Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino today endorsed Republican candidates in several key State and Federal races.

Former New York Governor George Pataki today endorsed Republican Greg Ball for Senate.

The 40th District State Senate race is a hotly contested one  between Ball and Democratic Westchester County Legislator Michael Kaplowitz.

A new poll released today finds Democratic Westchester County Legislator Michael Kaplowitz gaining ground on Republican Greg Ball in the hotly contested 40th District State Senate Race.

A second RNN-TV/Westchester County Association poll taken by Iona College shows Kaplowitz cutting Ball's lead by 5 points from a poll taken two weeks ago. With the election two weeks away, Ball is leading Kaplowitz by just five points.The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5%.

Iona College pollster Dr. Jeanne Zaino says 17% of likely voters, however, remain undecided.

The survey included calls to over 10,000 registered voters on October 18. The 40th Senate District is regarded as one of the key races in determining the future blanace of the State Senate.

The District includes parts of northern Westchester, all of Putnam and parts of Dutchess.

Assemblyman Greg Ball, who's seeking the State Senate Seat in the 40th District, held a news conference today calling his opponent's plan to save Hilltop Hanover Farm in Yorktown a "shell game" and nothing more than a "tax diversion scheme."

On Friday, Westchester County Legislator Michael Kaplowitz proposed transferring the Farm's annual budget of more than $427,000 from the County's Operational Budget to the Westchester County Waste Management District, a special district that collects approximately $45 million in taxes annually for the collection and disposables of recyclables and garbage in 36 of the county's 43 municipalities.

Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino has hinted that Westchester may no longer be able to subsidize the farm, which it purchased in 2003m due to the County's massive budget deficit.

On Friday, Kaplowitz, along with fellow Legislator Peter Harckham, proposed the farm be funded out of the County's solid waste district fund, a move Harckham says will "In five years allow the farm to be entirely self-sufficient."

Ball called such a move "Environmental racism" saying the tax burden would be "Unfairly shifted to  Peekskill, Cortlandt and Yorktown" which are in the water district.  The Assemblyman added "This is actually a small window into what we would get if God forbid, 'Tax Hike Mike' was ever elected to the New York State Senate.The problem with the New York State Legislature is they feel the answer to every problem is a new tax increase. Tax increases are not the solution, they are the problem."

The Northern Westchester Tea Party Patriots has announced its endorsements for local, state and national offices.