Florida State GOP Chairman Ousted After Refusing to Resign Amid Rape Allegations

Florida Party of Florida Chairman Christian Ziegler addresses attendees at the Republican Party of Florida Freedom Summit in Kissimmee, Fla., on Nov. 4, 2023. Phelan M. Ebenhack/AP Photo

The Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) voted on Jan. 8 to oust Chairman Christian Ziegler, as the former Sarasota County Commissioner is embroiled in a scandal and the subject of a police investigation over rape allegations.

The state GOP executive committee voted to suspend Mr. Ziegler in December 2023 and demanded his resignation, citing the need for better leadership going into an important election year that will decide which party controls Congress and the White House.

Mr. Ziegler has refused to step down since the allegations surfaced in November 2023, even as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) all called for his resignation.

Mr. DeSantis is facing off against former President Donald Trump for the GOP nomination for president but is currently trailing the former commander-in-chief by double digits in polling ahead of the Jan. 15 Iowa caucuses.

Florida is also an important battleground state in the fight for control over the House of Representatives in the 2024 election.

“This is terribly off-message for the Republican Party,” said RPOF Constitution and Rules Committee Chair Stafford Jones.

Mr. Jones is also the State Committeeman of Alachua County and was present for the vote to remove Mr. Ziegler.

When he first heard of the allegations, Mr. Jones said he knew “no good [was] going to come out of this.”

Mr. Ziegler’s refusal to voluntarily resign also created problems for the Florida GOP.

“It would have been optimal if he had just stepped down, but that’s not what he chose to do. It left the Republican Party of Florida in a very awkward situation,” Mr. Jones said.

“The vote to remove him was nearly unanimous. There may have been a couple of holdouts.”

The RPOF nominated former vice-chair and Leon County GOP Chairman Evan Power to succeed Mr. Ziegler.

“It puts an important issue behind us and allows the Republican Party of Florida to move on,” Mr. Jones noted.

Mr. Power called ascension to state GOP chair an “honor of a lifetime” and urged that the RPOF is “not defined by one person.”

“There’s too much at stake this year,” Mr. Power said in a news release. “Joe Biden is a danger to our democracy and economic well-being. Open borders must be closed, the politicization of our judiciary must end, and the indoctrination of our children must stop. We must deliver Florida’s 30 electoral votes to the presidential Republican nominee to ensure America remains the shining city upon a hill.”

Police Investigation into Rape Allegations

Mr. Ziegler was accused of sexual battery by a woman with whom he and his wife, Bridget Ziegler, admitted to having a three-way romantic relationship when questioned by the Sarasota Police Department, which is currently investigating the allegations.

Sarasota County School Board members Tom Edwards and Bridget Ziegler are seen at a board meeting on Dec. 12, 2023. Sarasota County School Board/Screenshot via Youtube

According to phone text messages released in police documents, the couple was supposed to meet with the alleged victim on the day of the incident, but Mrs. Ziegler was unavailable. When the alleged victim tried to cancel, Mr. Ziegler visited the woman at her apartment without his wife.

The former RPOF Chairman claimed the interaction was “consensual” and released a statement through his attorney that he would be “exonerated” once the investigation is completed.

Mrs. Ziegler is a co-founder of Moms for Liberty, a conservative activist group whose efforts include electing candidates to school boards throughout the country.

Mrs. Ziegler is also an elected member of the Sarasota County School Board (SCSB), which voted to ask for her resignation during a meeting in December 2023.

She refused to resign after listening to three hours of public comments, with some members of the public defending her while others called her a “hypocrite” for engaging in a same-sex romantic relationship after being an outspoken critic of the LGBT movement.

The Florida governor also appointed Mrs. Ziegler to the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (CFTOD), which Mr. DeSantis created after successfully stripping Disney World of its self-governing status when the company criticized a Florida law that bans classroom discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity in early grades, known by detractors as the “Don’t Say Gay Bill.”

Mrs. Ziegler helped draft the legislation.

The Epoch Times previously reached out to the CFTOD for comment but did not receive a response.

A sign is prominently placed in the hallway during the inaugural Moms for Liberty Summit at the Tampa Marriott Water Street on July 15, 2022 in Tampa, Florida. Photo by Octavio Jones/Getty Images

Neither Mr. Ziegler nor his wife have been accused of a crime.

Since Mrs. Ziegler is an elected official on the SCSB, the vote for her resignation carried no legal weight, something she referenced in her refusal to step down. Unless she is voted out after her current term ends in 2026, she can only be removed by the governor.

“The governor has the ability to remove elected officials in the state. But there’s kind of a high standard; it’s got to be for malfeasance or in performing the duties of the office,” Mr. Jones said.

“As far as Bridget goes, this situation has put Moms for Liberty in a little bit of an uncomfortable situation. And it has caused some risks for the movement to make sure parents’ rights are protected. But aside from that, I guess it’s up to Bridget to determine how she moves forward with this.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.