Florida GOP Boots Chairman Christian Ziegler Over Rape Claims

Florida Republican Party members selected a new chairman Monday to replace Christian Ziegler after he refused to step down over accusations that he raped a woman who previously had a threesome with him and his wife, co-founder of the conservative group Moms for Liberty.

The Florida GOP announced that its vice chair Evan Power, a longtime lobbyist and Leon County political staple, would take the helm of the party in place of Ziegler. Power assumes the role of chairman in the shadow of a scandal that has enveloped one of the party's most popular conservative power couples.

"Congratulations to our new Chairman, @EvanPower," the Florida GOP said in a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter. "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!"

The Florida Center for Government Accountability revealed the rape claims against Ziegler in a November article, which cited a heavily redacted Sarasota Police Department report about the alleged incident in early October.

As detailed in a warrant application filed November 15 in the Twelfth Judicial Circuit Court, a woman told police Ziegler sexually assaulted her over a bar stool in her apartment while she was too intoxicated on tequila to consent to intercourse. The application states that the woman had been talking with Ziegler about having another ménage à trois with his wife, but when she learned his wife would not be able to make it, she explained to Ziegler she wasn't interested in hooking up with him alone. The woman told police Ziegler showed up at her home anyway and forced her into a sexual encounter.

Since the start of the probe, warrants have been issued for Ziegler's cell phone data and online profiles, including his Google and Instagram accounts. He has not been charged in the case. The Sarasota Police Department's investigation expanded in December to examine whether Ziegler committed the crime of video voyeurism by recording the incident.

Ziegler's attorney, Derek Byrd, has denied the rape accusations, maintaining that Ziegler's encounter with the alleged victim was consensual. Byrd said that Ziegler cooperated in the investigation, and that he believes his client "will be completely exonerated" when the probe has concluded.

After news of the allegations broke, Ziegler wrote to party members, characterizing the claims as a politically motivated attack.

"My family is rock solid. My wife is behind me 150 percent and we have methods in place to protect our (three) children, just as we have with all previous attacks that we have faced," Ziegler said.

The former Florida GOP chair's wife, Bridget Ziegler, serves on the Sarasota County School Board, which passed a resolution on December 12 requesting that she resign from her position. After the measure passed 4-1, with Bridget as the sole dissenting vote, applause broke out from some audience members.

Protesters in the Gulf Coast county have been calling for her to step down, accusing her of hypocrisy in championing state legislation that stigmatized and marginalized LGBTQ residents.

Moms for Liberty, the group Bridget Ziegler co-founded, is a driving force in a self-described "parental rights" movement that has pushed for the mass removal of books from public school classrooms and libraries, including literary titles by Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison and satirist Kurt Vonnegut, based on fears that children are being subjected to leftist and LGBTQ indoctrination and exposed to age-inappropriate material.

Christian Ziegler's ouster was not unexpected in light of the party's decision last month to strip him of his duties and reduce his pay to a nominal sum. Republican leadership is aiming to put the scandal in the rear-view mirror as the 2024 election season ramps up and the party tries to capitalize on a strong showing in the 2022 Florida midterm election.

Power, the Republican Party of Florida's new chairman, worked as a legislative analyst in the Florida House of Representatives before starting his career as a lobbyist with Gomez Barker Associates in 2006, according to his professional profile. He became the Leon County Republican Party's chairman in 2014 and still holds the post. His profile lists him as a member of Ramba Consulting Group, a Tallahassee-based lobbying firm.

Through a press release issued by the party, Power called his new position the "honor of a lifetime."

"The Republican Party of Florida [RPOF] is not defined by one person but rather the efforts of all our grassroots leaders who have helped recruit and elect solid Republican candidates starting with our Governor Ron DeSantis, a full Republican cabinet and a super-majority in the state legislature," Power said. "The RPOF has a rock-solid foundation to keep Florida winning."

Power and Christian Ziegler have not responded to New Times' requests for comment.

DeSantis, State Senate President Kathleen Passidomo and Florida House Speaker Paul Renner were among those who called for Ziegler's resignation. He refused, declaring in December, "We have a country to save."