Senate President Williams announced as McCain's Kentucky chair

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."

Williams already has publicly spoken out against U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), inventing a word and dropping a rhyming attack on the presumpive Democratic presidential nominee during the state Republican convention in June.

“We have to work together to keep this country from suffering from taxation, regulation, litigation, and his vacillations,” said Williams. “We can’t afford to have this country become an Obami-nation.”

During the same speech, Williams took aim at the now-infamous "bitter" comments made by Obama, in which the Illinois Senator said many rural Americans "clung" to "guns or religion."

"The founders of our United States were a religious and faithful people who fought and died to keep the right to be religious, and separation of church and state - to keep people from being ridiculed by people like Barack Obama,” said Williams.

Mccain's Kentucky Leadership team also is comprised of two "honorary chairs" in the states two Republican U.S. Senators, Mitch McConnell (R-Louisville) and Jim Bunning (R-Southgate).

Hal Rogers (R-Somerset), Ron Lewis (R-Cecilia), Geoff Davis (R-Hebron), and Ed Whitfield (R-Hopkinsville) - the commonwealth's four Republican U.S. Rep. - were each named as "honorary co-chairs" for the campaign.

State Rep. James Comer (R-Tompkinsville) was named as the campaign's "grassroots" chair.

Each Congressional district in the state also has an official chair:

• 1st District: Russ Randall (1st District Republican chair)
• 2nd District: Jim Weise (2nd District Republican chair)
• 3rd District: Deanna Brangers (3rd District Republican chair)
• 4th District: Kevin Sell (4th District Republican chair)
• 5th District: State Sen. Tom Jensen, of London.
• 6th District: Lois Ann Disponette-Hyatt (6th District Republican chair)