The Republican Occasion of Florida ousted its chairman on Monday, greater than a month after the police in Sarasota confirmed that he was beneath legal investigation for sexual assault.
For weeks, Christian Ziegler, the chairman, resisted requires him to step down, retaining the scandal within the headlines and exasperating Republicans who insisted that he couldn’t survive the political repercussions of such a critical accusation. In mid-December, the state celebration’s govt committee censured Mr. Ziegler and stripped him of his duties and annual wage of $120,00zero after Gov. Ron DeSantis, Senator Rick Scott and a few county-level Republican chairs had urged him to go.
Mr. Ziegler was eliminated by a voice vote of about 200 celebration members throughout a gathering in Tallahassee. Solely a handful opposed the movement, which included a press release saying that Mr. Ziegler was not a member in good standing with the celebration.
He was changed by Evan Energy, the pinnacle of the Leon County Republican Occasion in Tallahassee, who had been the state celebration’s vice chairman. Mr. Ziegler didn’t attend the assembly and didn’t instantly reply to a textual content message looking for remark.
The police in Sarasota, the place Mr. Ziegler lives, said in late November that he was beneath investigation. A lady accused Mr. Ziegler of raping her in October, in accordance with a police report and a search warrant affidavit.
Mr. Ziegler, 40, who has not been charged, has denied wrongdoing. He informed the police that he had consensual intercourse with the lady on Oct. 2, in accordance with the affidavit. Her identify has been redacted from public data.
The lady informed the police that she had had a consensual sexual encounter with Mr. Ziegler and his spouse, Bridget Ziegler, greater than a yr in the past, however that she had declined to have intercourse with Mr. Ziegler on Oct. 2 after realizing that his spouse wouldn’t be becoming a member of them.
Mr. Ziegler then went to her condo uninvited, the lady informed the police, and sexually assaulted her. He informed the police that he had filmed the encounter. They obtained search warrants for Mr. Ziegler’s cellphone and his Google account, in accordance with the affidavit. Mr. Ziegler can be being investigated for video voyeurism, in accordance with the Florida Middle for Authorities Accountability, which describes itself as a nonpartisan, nonprofit group and first reported on the legal investigation.
The investigation additionally led to requires Ms. Ziegler, an elected member of the Sarasota County Faculty Board, to step down over perceived hypocrisy between her non-public life and public persona. The board itself known as for Ms. Ziegler to resign final month, saying that the drama engulfing her and her husband had change into an excessive amount of of a distraction. Ms. Ziegler was the one member to vote towards the nonbinding decision; she has remained on the board.
Ms. Ziegler, 41, is a conservative activist who has promoted anti-L.G.B.T.Q. insurance policies in colleges and co-founded the right-wing group Mothers for Liberty. She confirmed to the police that she had taken half within the prior sexual encounter with the lady, in accordance with the affidavit.
The Republican Occasion of Florida, like many different state events, has misplaced among the affect it as soon as had, as nationwide and state candidates have began their very own political operations largely separate from the legacy celebration construction. However the Zieglers held sway as a political energy couple in Sarasota, a hotbed of right-wing activism.
Mr. Ziegler was elected celebration chairman in February, in a race that pitted him towards Mr. Energy. Mr. Ziegler was seen as an ally of former President Donald J. Trump, whereas Mr. Energy was extra carefully aligned with Mr. DeSantis. Mr. Energy was then chosen because the celebration’s vice chairman.
