Hillsborough County Republican Party Chairman Debbie Cox-Roush said today that “the only right thing” for Gov. Charlie Crist to do is appoint a Republican to replace the late Phyllis Busansky as county elections supervisor.

Political insiders have speculated that Crist, who’s running for the U.S. Senate and has an opponent in the Republican primary, is likely to stick with his party in choosing an appointee, but have noted that Crist in the past has appointed numerous Democrats to high-level state posts. Busansky, a Democrat, unseated scandal-plagued Republican Buddy Johnson for the seat last year.

Cox-Roush said Crist should pick a Republican who will be a strong candidate to run for election to the office in 2010.

“As party chairman, obviously I think the only right thing for him to do is to stick with our party,” she said. “We need to look beyond what’s happening today – this is a very important division of our government and we need somebody who can carry on past 2010.”

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