After 'awful' 2012 session, Thayer doesn't dismiss change of leadership in Senate

Any internal race for the state Senate presidency likely wouldn’t materialize until after the November election but “anything is a possibility” in light of the worsening political atmosphere in Frankfort, said Republican Sen. Damon Thayer of Georgetown.

Specifically, the relationship between Republican Senate President David Williams and Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear, who defeated Williams in the 2011 governor’s race, has cast a pall over Frankfort, Thayer said.

“I’ll tell you this, it was the most difficult, challenging, frustration session in the nine and a half-years since I’ve been down there,” he said of this spring’s General Assembly session (1:30). “It was awful. And it wasn’t just me. I think a lot of people were frustrated.”

Thayer said Williams deserves praise for leading the caucus over the last decade but said the working environment has become “really hard and it doesn’t seem to be getting any easier.”

Find out how he believes the governor’s race from 2011 made things worse. (2:30)

Lawmakers will elect their legislative leaders in January 2013. Whether that means replacing Williams, Thayer said “anything is a possibility.” He added: “I think it’s too early right now to talk about leadership races” — something Thayer has said over the last two months.

Williams has said he has the votes to win another term as Senate president, a post he has held since 2000. Find out whether Thayer is interested in running for Senate president (4:50)