Former Pinellas GOP Chairman Tony DiMatteo says he'll back home boy Charlie Crist for re-election as governor, but when it comes to a U.S. Senate race, he's with former state House Speaker Marco Rubio of Miami all the way:

"Charlie Crist left us," said Tony DiMatteo, a Republican state committeeman from Crist's home county of Pinellas, citing Crist's support for the stimulus package and his appointing a Democrat to the Florida Supreme Court.

"We don't need another Arlen Specter," said DiMatteo, adding that Crist's leaving the governor's office could make that and other Republican-held Cabinet seats vulnerable. "We need Republican senators, and Marco Rubio would be one of those senators."

Story here.

*