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Storck To Cede Hillsborough County GOP Post

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By WILLIAM MARCH | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 11, 2008

TAMPA - David Storck will step down as chairman of the Hillsborough County Republican Party and will support Deborah Cox-Roush, currently special events coordinator, to replace him.

New party officers will be chosen in an election in December.

Storck was involved in a controversy recently over an e-mail he received from a campaign volunteer and forwarded to political associates, containing language some considered racist.

That caused some local Republicans to say last week that he should step down from the chairmanship.

However, Storck said that's not why he's stepping down. He said party officers shouldn't stay in their positions for long periods. "A chairman doesn't need to be chairman forever," he said. "You need to add new people."

Storck said he hopes to remain involved in party leadership, and will run for a position on the party's executive board.

Local GOP political consultant Mark Proctor, who said last week he's considering running for the chairmanship, said Monday he hasn't decided yet. He said Cox-Roush "would make a fine chairman."

Storck, a Brandon plant nursery owner, has been chairman since early 2006. Before that, he was involved in recruiting members for the executive committee, the basic membership group of the local party. Former Chairman Al Higginbotham, now a county commissioner, credited him with making the committee the state's largest.

That also helped east Hillsborough conservatives cement control of the party.

Cox-Roush is a member of a family that owns a string of meeting facilities, including the Alfano Conference and Banquet Center near the University of South Florida, where the county party holds its meetings.

Reporter William March can be reached at (813) 259-7761.

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