Florida GOP looks ready to remove Ziegler as chair, analysts say

ORLANDO, Fla. — Embattled Florida Republican Party chair Christian Ziegler faces a vote on Sunday to remove him from his $120,000 a year job following rape allegations lodged against him and the admission that he and his wife had a three-way affair.

So far he has steadfastly refused to resign even as Gov. Ron DeSantis and most state Republican leaders want him out.

Christian Ziegler’s wife Bridget, a co-founder of the powerful conservative group Moms for Liberty, faced a resolution Tuesday night calling for her removal from the Sarasota County School Board.

Given the continual bad headlines and lack of support, Christian Ziegler’s time as chair could soon be over, whether charges are filed or not, political analysts said.

“Setting aside the sexual assault allegations, if there was a consensual three-way relationship of some sort, that would be legal, but inconsistent with the policy messages, policy actions and messaging of the Florida Republican Party over the last five years,” said Gregory Koger, a professor of political science at the University of Miami.

Mac Stipanovich, a Tallahassee political consultant, agreed that Ziegler could lose his job no matter how the investigation turns out.

“In the course of it all, (the state GOP) will all wring their hands and talk about ‘innocent until proven guilty’ and stress ‘alleged’ and all that, which is appropriate,” Stipanovich said. “But I believe they’ll remove him.”

The accusation

The allegations were brought by a woman who says she had a previous consensual sexual encounter that included Ziegler and his wife, according to a Sarasota Police Department search warrant affidavit.

The affidavit states the woman told Sarasota police detectives she had agreed to have a sexual encounter with Ziegler and his wife on Oct. 2 but canceled when she learned Bridget was unable to go.

She told police she opened her door to walk her dog and Ziegler entered her apartment and sexually assaulted her, according to the affidavit.

The Florida Center for Government Accountability, a nonprofit media organization that first broke the story last month, reported police had recovered video taken by Zeigler of the encounter, but a Sarasota police spokeswoman said nothing in that report had been confirmed.

Ziegler has not been charged with a crime. His attorney, Derek Byrd, said he would be cleared of wrongdoing, and Ziegler released a statement earlier this month professing his innocence and claiming he and his wife were being “targeted.”

“We have a country to save and I am not going to let false allegations of a crime put that mission on the bench as I wait for this process to wrap up,” he said in his statement.

‘Bewildered and frustrated’

Ziegler could be taking a cue from former President Donald Trump, Koger said, who famously has refused to admit mistakes or wrongdoing. According to NBC News, Ziegler told Moms for Liberty at their convention in July, “Never apologize. Ever. … Apologizing makes you weak.”

But, Koger said, “He’s not Donald Trump.”

“He doesn’t have the brand name recognition or perhaps the extreme latitude of forgiveness or indifference exhibited by Trump supporters,” Koger said. “In the Zieglers’ cases, they’re not more important than the party brand.”

Trump has been conspicuously quiet about Ziegler as DeSantis, his rival for the 2024 presidential nomination, was quick to call for Ziegler to step aside. DeSantis was soon joined by U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, House Speaker Paul Renner, Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, and CFO Jimmy Patronis in calling for his resignation.

State Rep. Spencer Roach, R-Fort Myers, told the New York Times that Ziegler’s issues were “the topic of every water-cooler conversation and every lunchroom conversation. People are befuddled and bewildered and frustrated. … These people for years have held themselves as paragons of Christian conservative values. This is a huge breach of trust.”

Stipanovich said the lack of support for Ziegler was deafening.

“There’s nobody who’s stepped up and said, ‘It’s unfortunate, but he should be able to remain as chairman,’” Stipanovich said. “Nobody’s said that. He doesn’t have a supporter.”

Power vs. Ziegler

Ziegler’s win in the February election for state chair over Evan Power, a DeSantis ally, had been seen as a victory for Trump in the battle to control the state party. Ziegler had worked with former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski as a political consultant before becoming vice chair in 2018, though he has since stressed his neutrality in the GOP primary race.

Trump praised Ziegler early last month at the party’s Freedom Summit in Kissimmee, saying he “has done a fantastic job as state party chair.”

But after demonstrating his power in the state party in September, when the executive board reversed itself on a loyalty pledge requirement for the presidential primary, and with his huge lead over DeSantis in primary polls, Stipanovich said Trump is probably not willing to insert himself into a leadership fight.

“In every poll that’s out there, he’s beating Ron DeSantis like a drum here in Florida,” Stipanovich said. “I don’t think it matters to him whether (Ziegler or) Power is the chairman.”

Power, who was elected vice chair after losing the chair election to Ziegler, was the one who called for the special executive board meeting at the Rosen Centre in Orlando on Sunday to consider Ziegler’s fate.

The board, made up of county party chairs and state committeemen and committeewomen, can vote to appoint a special investigative committee to look into the allegations, which could ultimately result in his “removal from office or expulsion from the party.”

The board could also suspend some or all of Ziegler’s authority and pay and take a vote of no confidence or censure.

Issues to be discussed include “the Chairman’s misconduct; neglect of duty; conduct that renders him unfit for the office of Chairman; and/or conduct tending to injure the good name of the RPOF, disturb its well-being, or hamper it in its work.”

Ziegler has already become less visible in his role, with his last official email as party chairman sent out Nov. 29, the day before the first report of the allegations against him.

Bridget’s future

As for Bridget Ziegler, Sarasota School Board Chair Karen Rose wrote that “given the intense media scrutiny locally and nationally, her continued presence on the Board would cause irreparably harmful distractions to our critical mission,” according to WFLA-TV in Tampa.

The school board was set to meet Tuesday evening to discuss asking her to resign.

DeSantis spokesman Jeremy Redfern did not respond when asked if the governor was considering suspending Bridget Ziegler from her position on the school board or from the position he appointed her to on the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, the board overseeing Walt Disney World.

DeSantis has suspended 23 officials for neglect of duty, incompetence or misuse of authority, according to the Tampa Bay Times, including Orange Osceola State Attorney Monique Worrell and Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel.

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