Florida Republicans Censure RPOF Chair Christian Ziegler

Over the weekend, Florida Republicans censured Republican Party of Florida Chairman Christian Ziegler. The censure comes after Chairman Ziegler was accused of rape early this month. With mounting calls from Democrats for Ziegler to resign from his position, Florida Republicans have now censured him while also taking away his salary.

Bridget Ziegler, Chairman Ziegler's wife and the cofounder of Moms for Liberty, has also faced calls to resign from her position on the Florida School Board. Just last week, the board voted in favor of a resolution for her to resign. However, like Chairman Ziegler has reaffirmed that he has no intention of resigning from his post as Chairman of Florida's Republican Party, she has also not indicated that she will be resigning.

Over the weekend, the Republican Party of Florida's executive board held an emergency meeting to address the non-profit Florida Center for Government Accountability's revelation that Chairman Ziegler was under investigation for allegedly raping a woman in early October.

Chairman Ziegler maintains that the encounter was consensual, insisting that he will be exonerated in the case, but prominent Republicans in the state such as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) and Senators Marco Rubio (R) and Rick Scott (R) have called on Chairman Ziegler to resign from his position.

A motion to censure Chairman Ziegler was approved on Sunday, stating that the executive board had "lost confidence in Christian Ziegler's ability to effectively lead the Republican Party of Florida." Moreover, the motion argued that Chairman Ziegler is not in a position to devote his "full and undivided attention" to guide the party to victory throughout the upcoming 2024 elections.

According to two board members who were present in the meeting, Chairman Ziegler called on the executive board to wait until the criminal investigation comes to a close before voting to take action against him.