The Florida Republican Party on Monday voted to remove chairman Christian Ziegler after it was reported last month that the Sarasota County Police Department started investigating a rape allegation against him.
Ziegler allegedly raped a woman with whom he and his wife, Bridget Ziegler, had a previous three-way sexual relationship, according to a search warrant affidavit released on December 1. In early October, the alleged victim told police that the state Republican figure “sexually assaulted” her at her home while his wife was absent.
A majority of the members of the Florida GOP’s executive committee agreed to oust Ziegler during a closed-door meeting in Tallahassee following the chairman’s refusal to step down. Governor Ron DeSantis and other prominent Florida Republicans, including state senate president Kathleen Passidomo and state house speaker Paul Renner, have called for his resignation in the past month due to the salacious accusation.
Ziegler reportedly did not attend the Monday meeting, where former vice chairman Evan Power was chosen as the new chairman. Ziegler was previously suspended from his job responsibilities before getting ousted.
“Congratulations to our new Chairman, [Evan Power],” the Florida GOP posted on X. “Under his strong leadership, we will Keep Florida RED, deliver Florida’s 30 electoral votes to the GOP presidential candidate, and elect Republicans up and down the ballot. Let’s get to work!”
Ziegler has denied any wrongdoing on his part and maintained that the sex with the victim was consensual. While not yet charged with a sexual-battery crime, he is also being investigated for allegedly violating the state’s video-voyeurism laws after admitting to recording the encounter.
Bridget Ziegler, the co-founder of Moms for Liberty and a Sarasota County school board member, has also refused to step down from her positions after news broke that her husband was under investigation. She has not been formally accused of any legal wrongdoing.
Last month, Ziegler said he and his wife were targeted because they are “such loud political voices” for the conservative movement. “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 at the time.