Republican Governor primary candidate David Williams was in town on Thursday along with Lieutenant Governor candidate Richie Farmer to talk with voters at The Cove restaurant in Russell Springs.

Dubbed the "lead, follow or get out of the way" bus tour, Williams says that it's time for a new Governor in Kentucky. "The governor has been given an opportunity to lead, he would not lead," said Williams, of Democrat Governor Steve Beshear, "He's been given the opportunity to follow on these issues I've talked about, he will not follow. So he needs to get out of the way so we can start making a new Kentucky, and so we can compete with the southern states."

Asked why it was important to visit Russell County, when he is most likely to win overwhelmingly here, Williams responded that "They used to tell me if you want apples, you have to go to the orchard. So we have a lot of support in Russell County and we have a lot of Republicans here," said Williams, emphasizing he felt Russell County was important in his campaign, "A vote in Russell County is just as important as a vote in Jefferson County and a vote in Boyd County."

It's estimated that only nine percent of registered voters will vote in this primary election in Kentucky.

A native of Cumberland County, Williams has ties to Russell County through his wife, Russell County native Robin (Edmonds) Williams, as well as having played against Russell County sports teams when he was in high school in Cumberland County. Williams said his grandfather was well associated with Russell County as he was a logger who ran logs through Russell County and Burkesville. He greeted by name a large number of the approximately 50 or so supporters who attended the lunch time meeting. "It would be very difficult for anybody from Russell County to say that Russell County would be better off with having Steve Beshear remain governor."

Williams was elected to represent Kentucky's 16th district in the Kentucky Senate the same year that local businessman Welby Hoover was also elected to the state senate in 1986. In 2000 Republicans gained control of the state senate and Williams was chosen as President of the Senate, and has held that post continuously since. It was in September 2010 that Williams announced he would seek the Republican nomination for governor in the 2011 race.

Both Williams and Farmer took ample time to meet and greet both before and after the talk before loading back up on the bus to continue his 60 stop tour before the primary election on Tuesday.

 "We feel very positive about the campaign, but we've got to work hard to show people that we're very committed to work all the way out until the November election."