David Williams

LEXINGTON -- With her bid for the 13th state Senate district just in the developing stages, state Rep. Kathy Stein (D-Lexington) took aim on Wednesday night at the head of the chamber she hopes to join - Senate President David Williams (R-Burkesville).

"President Williams doesn't like people to publicly say anything about him - to criticize him," said Stein. "I learned a long time ago that if you are going to be in politics, you need to take stands that need to be taken."

"You also have to have a skin that is as thick as a rhinoceroses' hide," added Stein.

Stein was addressing the crowd in Lexington at a forum for candidates competing for the Democratic nod for the 75th state House seat - the seat she gave up for her state Senate run. She said she was hopeful the victorious candidate could prove to be an ally in the state legislature.

"I am looking forward to embracing him and her so that we can work together to make sure that David Williams in the Senate has someone who will stand up to him," said Stein.

Calling for an Arab genocide won't make you a winner, but that's not the only reason Sonny Landham made this week's loser list. U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell and Barack Obama both got some good polling news this week, but McConnell still managed to make the loser list. Find out who else made our Winners & Losers list. | CLICK HERE

U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in Inez, KY earlier this year: Politicker photo

The campaign of presumptive Republican presidential nominee and U.S. Sen. John McCain announced its first organizational moves in the state this afternoon, naming state Senate President David Williams (R-Burkesville) as Kentucky campaign chair.

A 22-year veteran of the state Senate, Williams has served as that body's president since 2000. He also unsuccessfully sought to unseat then-incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Wendell Ford in 1996.

"John McCain is a leader who Kentuckians can believe in. John McCain will protect our country, grow our economy, reform our government and improve America's energy security," said Williams in a statement dispatched by the McCain campaign. "We believe voters in Kentucky have a choice this November between John McCain, who will lead this nation forward, and Barack Obama who will take our country backward with his failed policies of the past. John McCain has always put our country's interest before his own; I am confident he will continue to do so as president."

Reaction to the United States Supreme Court's decision in the D.C. v. Heller case emanated from prominent Republicans in Kentucky quickly today, after the high court overturned a Washington, D.C., law banning handgun ownership in a 5-4 decision.

"Today the Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment protects the individual right of law-abiding citizens of the District of Colombia to protect themselves in their own homes," U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Louisville) said in a statement. "This landmark ruling will ensure that regardless of where citizens reside, the government will respect their rights that are guaranteed by the Second Amendment."

In the court's majority opinion, Associate Justice Antonin Scalia concluded "the District's ban on handgun possession in the home violates the Second Amendment, as does its prohibition against rendering any lawful firearm in the home operable for the purpose of immediate self-defense.

With leaders from the state House and Senate reaching an agreement on pension reform legislation, it now appears likely the whole of both those bodies will reconvene in Frankfort for a five-day special session to consider the legislation.

"My staff and I will be working with the House and Senate leadership to finalize the details of a draft bill. Assuming that these final details are ironed out I will issue a call for a special session of the General Assembly on June 23, 2008, to quickly pass that legislation," said Governor Steve Beshear (D-Lexington) in a statement released today.

BOWLING GREEN -- Despite some particularly visible dissent on the convention floor on Saturday, Republican Party of Kentucky leadership was not abated from approving a package of nineteen resolutions and their favored slate of at-large delegates to the Republican National Convention.

One effort by a handful of Ron Paul delegates attempting to extract one resolution for debate was beaten back from the Chair on procedural grounds during Saturday's Kentucky Republican convention in Bowling Green. Otherwise, all the resolutions recommended by the convention's Resolutions Committee passed easily by voice vote.

BOWLING GREEN -- As gas prices across the country continue to skyrocket, top state Republican leaders continue to push increased domestic production of both oil and Kentucky's rich coal reserves as means with which to increase supply and sever American links to the volatile Middle Eastern region.

State Senate President David Williams (R-Burkesville) pushed this point in dramatic terms at Saturday's Kentucky Republican convention, linking Middle East oil producers to terrorist groups while calling for a greater use of Kentucky resources.

"Kentucky coal miners in the east and the west are ready to provide the energy that we need to become independent from the shieks who turn our own money against us and fund the terrorists," exclaimed Williams.

Prominent Republicans from mutliple levels of government are expected in Bowling Green on Saturday for the Republican Party of Kentucky's [RPK] annual convention, with the guest list topped by U.S. Senator Jim Bunning (R-Southgate) and U.S. Reps Geoff Davis (R-Hebron) and Hal Rogers (R-Somerset).

The Saturday convention will begin at 1pm at the Sloan Convention Center in Bowling Green. Other guests confirming their attendance at the event include state Senate President David Williams, Secretary of State Trey Grayson, and state Senator Brett Guthrie, the Republican nominee in the race for Kentucky's open 2nd Congressional District seat.

Stuck at an impasse on changing the state's Retirement programs, the option of a short special session in the state legislature is being considered by officials in Frankfort, according to Jack Brammer of the Lexington Herald-Leader.

Governor Steve Beshear (D-Lexington) is meeting with leaders of the state House and state Senate this morning to discuss possible ways to address the significant shortfalls state and local pension systems are currently handling.