David Lewis Williams (born May 28, 1953) is an American attorney, politician, and jurist from the U.S. commonwealth of Kentucky. A member of the Republican party, Williams represented Kentucky's 16th Senate district in the Kentucky Senate from 1987 to 2012. When Republicans gained control of the chamber in 2000, Williams was chosen as President of the Senate, and held that post continuously until his resignation to accept an appointment as a circuit court judge.
Williams was the Republican nominee for the United States Senate in 1992, and for governor in 2011, but was defeated in each by wide margins.
Early life and family
The only child of Lewis and Flossie Williams, David Williams was born in Burkesville in Cumberland County, Kentucky, on May 28, 1953.Cheves, "Leadership Through Conflict" Lewis Williams was a schoolteacher and basketball coach, but rural Cumberland County High School was unable to pay him sufficient salary to support his family; so he ran for clerk of the Cumberland County Fiscal Court. After his initial election, the senior Williams never faced any opposition for the office, which he held for twenty-eight years. Because of his father's office, David Williams met several politicians over the years, including Republicans, Senator John Sherman Cooper and Representative Tim Lee Carter. Such contacts aroused his interest in politics.Carlton, "David Williams" In his teenage years, he became affiliated with the Young Republicans.
While attending Cumberland County High School, Williams was a strong student and captain of the football team. He served as class president and successfully lobbied school administrators to re-instate the senior trip to Florida. After high school, he attended the University of Kentucky, where he was a member of Kappa Alpha Order fraternity. He earned a bachelor's degree in 1975; in 1977, he earned his Juris Doctor from the Brandeis School of Law at the University of Louisville.Baniak, "Williams to be Under Scrutiny as Senate Chief" After graduation, he returned to Burkesville, where he began a law practice.
In 1976, Williams married the former Elaine Grubbs."David Williams' Life and Career". Lexington Herald-Leader The couple had no children. In 2001, Williams left his wife and filed for divorce, claiming the marriage was "irretrievably broken".
Williams and his second wife, Robyn Williams of Russell County, a former state district court judge, filed for divorce in September, 2012.
State representative Immediately after finishing law school in 1977, Williams challenged the incumbent county judge in Cumberland County. Although Republicans had a 3-to-1 voter registration advantage in the county, Williams lost the election. His next run for public office came in 1984, when he challenged incumbent legislator Richard Fryman in the Republican primary election to represent Kentucky's 53rd district (Clinton, Cumberland and Wayne counties) in the Kentucky House of Representatives.Mueller, "Four Legislators Defeated" In an election where a myriad of local issues resulted in ten incumbents in the House of Representatives losing their respective primaries statewide, Williams garnered 2,450 votes to Fryman's 1,804; a third candidate, Kirby R. Ringley, got 1,519 votes. With no Democratic challenger, Williams took the seat.Cohn, "Controversies Stir Up Some House Races" At age thirty-one, he was the youngest member of the House of Representatives at the time.Brammer, "State Senator Says Kentuckians Need Hope"
As a member of the House, Williams served on the Education Committee. His most notable actions were in opposition to an education reform package proposed by Governor Martha Layne Collins, a Democrat, during a special legislative session in July 1985.Roser and Brammer, "Legislature Approves Tax, School Plan Williams opposed a provision of the plan that required county officials to raise additional tax revenue in order to participate in school construction program; he said that counties which were owed large amounts in delinquent taxes would have to raise tax rates above the state minimum in order to collect the requisite funds. He offered several amendments to the plan, including the repeal of a provision to pilot a career ladder program for educators and a requirement that the state retirement system pay the full health insurance premiums of retired teachers and their spouses.Wolfe, "House Committee OKs Substitute Education Bill" All of Williams' amendments were defeated, except one to maintain the same qualifications for writing aides that were required of kindergarten aides.Roser, "Panel Backs School Package After a Marathon Session" After the session, Williams and Representative John Harper charged that Collins delayed approval of public works grant projects in their districts in retaliation for their opposition to the reform plan; Collins denied that.Wolfe, "Lawmaker Says Governor Used Grants Politically"
State senator
First term After only one term in the House, Williams announced his candidacy for the state senate in 1986.Brammer, "Senate Races Intensify as Election Nears" The seat, representing the 16th district (Adair, Casey, Cumberland, Green, Metcalfe, Russell and Taylor counties), was left open by the retirement of incumbent legislator Doug Moseley of Campbellsville. In the Republican primary, Williams defeated Taylor County Attorney Larry Noe, also of Campbellsville, by a vote of 6,695 to 6,032.Brammer and Mueller, "Deskins Survives Primary Challenge" In the general election, he beat Democrat Willard N. Smith by a vote of 14,461 to 11,534.
In 1987, Williams was named the state organizational chairman for Vice-President George H. W. Bush's presidential campaign, and he was a delegate to the 1988 Republican National Convention.Cappiello, "Ky. Campaign for Bush Rounds Out Its Leadership"Rugeley, "McConnell Denies Report He'll Be on Bush Ticket" Also in 1988, he became the chairman of the Cumberland County Republican Party.
In December 1988, Governor Wallace Wilkinson, a Democrat, called a special legislative session to consider the creation of a state lottery. Williams proposed an amendment, which did not pass, to allow counties to decide whether or not to sell lottery tickets, similar to the state's existing local option liquor laws. Ultimately, Williams was one of only five senators to vote against the lottery bill.Rugeley and Brammer, "General Assembly OKs Bill on Lottery"
At the General Assembly's organizational session prior to the 1990 legislative session, Williams announced that he would challenge Jack Trevey for his position as Republican caucus chair. Williams lost his bid by a vote of 5 to 3.Rugeley, "Legislators Pick Leaders From Within Their Parties"
The major issue of the 1990 legislative session was crafting a new, reformed school system due to a 1988 Kentucky Supreme Court decision that declared the entire Kentucky public school system unconstitutional.Stroud, "Senate OKs School-Reform, Tax Bill" Although Williams was not a voting member of the Assembly's education task force, he regularly attended their meetings and contributed his input.Bishop, "The Best and Worst of 1990's Legislators" When the Kentucky Education Reform Act was presented on the Senate floor, Williams supported it. His position drew the ire of many in his party not only because he crossed party lines to support the bill, but also because the bill included steep tax increases to pay for the education reforms. The bill passed, and Williams was praised by the Lexington Herald-Leader as one of the best legislators of 1990.
Following the 1990 session, Republican caucus chairman Jack Trevey died, and Williams gained the support of four of the Senate's seven Republicans to succeed Trevey as interim caucus chairman.Straub, "Sen. Schmidt Bidding to be GOP Caucus Boss" Senate minority leader John Rogers was not among those who supported Williams and did not make the motion to seat Williams on the Legislative Research Commission, a seat to which Williams' position entitled him."Worthington's Campaign Chief Quits Because of Family Matters". Lexington Herald-Leader
Second term After being re-elected in November 1990 without opposition, Williams challenged Rogers for the post of minority leader.Hicks, "General Assembly 1991" The Republican Senate caucus, which gained three members in the 1990 elections, voted to retain Rogers, 6–5. Williams was subsequently stripped of several key committee positions.
Williams considered running for lieutenant governor on a ticket with Congressman Larry Hopkins in 1991, but some within the party worried that Williams' support of the Kentucky Education Reform Act – and its associated tax hike – would hurt Hopkins' ability to campaign on a platform of lowering taxes."Tax Vote Complicates GOP Ticket Strategy". The Kentucky Post Instead, Hopkins named Williams as his campaign manager."Hopkins Camp Issued $15,000 in Blank Checks".Lawrence, "Hopkins Praises Local Support" Hopkins defeated Larry Forgy in the Republican primary; Williams resigned as campaign manager following that primary.
During the 1992 legislative session, Williams and fellow Republican Gene Huff walked out of the Senate chambers just before a vote on a prevailing wage bill.Brammer, "2 Walk Out as Senate Panel OKs Wage Bill" Williams and Huff were protesting the fact that Senator Tim Shaughnessy would not allow testimony about the bill.
Near the end of the session, the House of Representatives sent three bills related to abortion to the Senate. The bills would have required the consent of a parent or judge for a teenager to receive an abortion, required the distribution of information about abortion alternatives to women seeking an abortion, and imposed additional health regulations on abortion clinics. The bills were assigned to the Senate Judiciary Committee, whose chair refused to bring them up for a committee vote. All eleven Senate Republicans filed a discharge petition to force the bills onto the floor for a vote by the full senate, but no Democrats voted for the petitions, leaving Republicans well short of the 20 votes needed for approval. Williams and fellow Senator Tim Philpot filed suit to have the Senate rules declared unconstitutional, to force a vote on the bills.Breed, "Abortion Bills Mired in Committee" The suit was based on a non-binding advisory opinion issued in 1978 by then-Attorney General Robert L. Stephens which said that legislative rules could not contradict the state constitution, and cited a section of the state constitution, "Whenever a committee refuses or fails to report a bill submitted to it in a reasonable time, the same may be called up by any member."Hicks, "GOP Suing to Dislodge Abortion Bills"