Florida Republican Party Chairman Christian Ziegler pleaded with the 40 members of the Executive Committee in a closed-door emergency session in Orlando today. His efforts to beg to save his job fell on deaf ears.
Desantis, every member of his Cabinet, and Senators Scott and Rubio called for his ouster. There were media reports that Trump was still backing him, but there was no indication that would be made public.
Ziegler arrived at the meeting through a back door to avoid the public and the press, and begged committee members not to fire him.
The constitution of the State GOP has a somewhat cumbersome process to remove a State Chair, with several different waiting periods before each step of the process.
A motion was made first to censure Ziegler, and then separate motions were made to reduce his very lucrative annual salary to $1, strip him of all authority to act on behalf of the party, and deny reimbursement to him for certain claimed expenses. The Censure motion passed unanimously. The motion to deny him reimbursement then passed. Then the motion to strip of him authority passed. Finally, the motion to reduce his salary to $1 and appoint an investigative committee passed.
Despite no support whatsoever from his own party, he appears determined to demonstrate that he has no character by refusing step down to save the party further drama. Ziegler will continue to drag the party down with him as long as possible.
Ziegler admitted to a three-way relationship with his wife Brigette, who co-founded Moms for Liberty and serves on the Sarasota School Board, and another woman who accused him of rape. Ziegler is under investigation for the crime, but has refused to step down, as News Views has reported. The Zieglers have been culture warriors against public schools and the LBGTQ community.
