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On Friday, Ball announced he would not seek re-election and would endorse Murphy.
The district includes Cortlandt, Peekskill, Mount Kisco, New Castle, Lewisboro, Pound Ridge, North Salem, Somers and Yorktown, Pleasantville, Mount Pleasant and Sleepy Hollow in Westchester as well as three towns in Putnam County.
Murphy would be facing former assemblyman Bob Castelli,a Lewisboro resident, who also announced he was seeking the GOP nomination. Justin Wagner, a Cortlandt resident, who unsuccessfully ran for the seat in 2012, is running for the Democrats.
"Terrence is running because he is really concerned about the trajectory the state is going in," T.J. McCormack, a spokesman for Murphy said. "We are in last place when we should be in first place."
McCormack said New Yorkers pay the highest property taxes and New York is the most difficult place to do business in the country.
"It's put us in a perilous position," McCormack said. "Too many have given up. We've lost half a million people in the last four years. New York is in their rearview mirror."
Serving in Yorktown, Murphy discovered the cost of unfunded mandates sent down from Albany, McCormack said.
"He can really do more good and reach more people at the macrolevel," McCormack said. "He can stop the problem before they reach the people of Yorktown."
McCormack said Murphy is passionate about cutting taxes and making New York a better place to do business.
"Government doesn't create jobs," McCormack said. "It creates an environment where businesses create jobs."
The race is not about Murphy or Castelli, McCormack said. And while Ball's endorsement was nice to get, the endorsements of the voters is more important.
"A lot of people out there will tell you an endorsement won't win or lose you a race," McCormack said.
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