Josh Burgin named Hillsborough GOP party administrator
January 9, 2009 at 6:00 am by Wayne GarciaLet the Burgin family dynasty begin.
With his sister Rachel ensconced in the Florida Legislature, a controversial and surprising appointment to replace state Rep. Trey Traviesa, Joshua Burgin is now the paid executive of the Hillsborough County Republican Executive Committee.
For anyone thinking the Hillsborough Republican Party was moving to the middle, forget about it: Burgin is a former aide to former House Speaker Johnnie Byrd and Hillsborough County Commissioner Brian Blair, home-schooled and strongly socially conservative.
This today from the REC:
Hillsborough’s Republican Executive Committee names Party Administrator
TAMPA – Deborah Cox-Roush, Hillsborough County Republican Party Chairman, announced today that Joshua Burgin was selected by the Executive Board to take on the position of Party Administrator. Burgin will be introduced to members at the first Republican Executive Committee meeting of the year on January 20th at the Blaise Alfano Convention and Conference Center.
After advertising and interviewing a diverse group of qualified candidates, members of the Executive Board enthusiastically recommended him for the position. Burgin is well known locally, managing three Republican campaign offices during the November elections, and impressed volunteers, office staff and party leaders with his political know-how and skillful use of technology. He’s expected to expand the party’s grassroots efforts, which consistently have been the strength of Hillsborough’s Republican Party.
Chairman Cox-Roush noted that “He demonstrates not only a new way of doing business but reflects the forward-thinking attitude that has been adopted by our newly elected party leadership team. It’s our new motto, “There’s no past in politics, only the future. The Republican Party in Hillsborough intends to lead in that direction.”
Burgin ran unsuccessfully for Byrd’s House seat in 2004. He has organized tours to Russia and, in 2006, was described in state Rep. Leslie Water’s campaign literature as “the current Kazakhstan Country Director for the International Republican Institute” when he brought a delegation of Kazakhstani politicians to Florida.
January 9th, 2009 at 10:52 am
Didn’t Cox-Roush work for Higginbotham when he chaired the party? Her recent interview with the Times was….. well, very telling without really saying much.
http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/local/article929025.ece
January 12th, 2009 at 8:49 am
The Log Cabin Republicans of Tampa Bay have enjoyed great relationships with all of the Hillsborough County REC Chairs. Margie Kincaid was the first to approve our charter application and Al Higgenbotham as well as David Storck have done likewise during their terms. LCR-TB looks forward to working with Chairman Cox-Roush to reach out to Republicans throughout Hillsborough County.