Story highlights Retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor says President Barack Obama should name Antonin Scalia's replacement

She noted that it's unusual to for a Supreme Court opening to exist in an election year

Washington (CNN) Retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor says President Barack Obama should name Antonin Scalia's replacement.

O'Connor, a nominee of President Ronald Reagan who became the court's swing vote until she retired from the bench in 2006, broke with Republicans who say they plan to block Obama's nominee, and want his successor to name the next justice.

"I don't agree (with Republicans)," O'Connor said in an interview with Phoenix-based Fox affiliate KSAZ . "We need somebody in there to do the job and just get on with it."

She noted that it's unusual to for a Supreme Court opening to exist in an election year, saying that the proximity to the presidential race "creates too much talk around the thing that isn't necessary."

She said Obama should name a replacement for Scalia, an influential conservative member of the nation's high court who was found dead Saturday at age 79.

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