TALLAHASSEE — In the most important shakeup on the Republican Party of Florida in additional than a decade, board members voted Monday to oust occasion chair Christian Ziegler, who’s been accused of raping a lady that he and his spouse had beforehand engaged in a three-way sexual encounter.
The occasion leaders then voted to switch him with state GOP Vice Chair Evan Power, who misplaced to Ziegler for the highest submit a yr in the past.
Ziegler’s elimination, achieved by a voice vote, was anticipated because the GOP govt committee unanimously stripped him of his duties, demanded he resign and diminished his pay to $1 on Dec. 17 in Orlando.
With the high-stakes presidential election and U.S. Senate and House seats arising this yr, officers mentioned felt it was time to determine new management.
“Christian Ziegler has got to go. We’ve got to start the healing process. You can’t raise money in the party if you’ve got that much dysfunctional leadership,” CFO Jimmy Patronis mentioned earlier than the assembly.
An estimated 200 GOP members attended the closed-door assembly on the Tallahassee Conference Center. Only a number of have been against dismissal.
Power received with 67% of the vote, 135-65.
He mentioned he was desperate to take the helm after months of uncertainty.
“There was a pause in what the party was doing because of that uncertainty,” Power mentioned. “It’s not anything that’s going to have a long-term impact.”
Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, R-Spring Hill, a former chair of the Florida GOP, mentioned he’s identified Power a very long time and seemed ahead to “working with him as much as I can to get the party back on track.”
“There has been some harm done to the Republican Party of Florida that cannot be overcome without hard work,” Ingoglia mentioned.
U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, Gov. Ron DeSantis and different Republicans had known as for his resignation, however Ziegler refused to take action, sustaining his innocence.
Power was up towards lawyer Peter Feaman, the National Committee chair for the state occasion for the final 12 years, and received a lift with an endorsement from DeSantis, who’s preventing to carry onto second place within the Iowa caucuses to be held on Jan. 15.
Ziegler, 40, was a rising star within the GOP when an affidavit obtained by The Trident confirmed that police have been investigating a declare {that a} lady who had earlier sexual encounters with Ziegler and his spouse had sexually assaulted her throughout a separate encounter.
Police mentioned they found video footage of an October sexual encounter with the Zieglers that the sufferer claimed to haven’t consented to have recorded, which might be a violation of the state’s video voyeurism legislation. That, too, is underneath investigation. Ziegler has not been charged with any crime.
His spouse is Bridget Ziegler, 41, a Sarasota County School Board member and co-founder of the Moms for Liberty, which has pushed for the elimination of books with LGBTQ themes.
The Sarasota County School Board voted 4-1 to request her to resign, however she refused. The board has no energy to take away her.
She is also one in all 5 individuals DeSantis appointed to switch the Disney-connected Reedy Creek Special Improvement District together with his personal supporters on the newly created Central Florida Tourism Oversight Board.
Democrats have known as the Zieglers hypocritical for embracing anti-LGBTQ views and but showing to take part in three-way sexual encounters.
The final main shakeup within the state Republican occasion got here to a head in 2010 when occasion chair Jim Greer was indicted on fraud, theft and cash laundering fees associated to the occasion’s fundraising practices.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”