Christian Ziegler was a guest speaker at the June 3 Santa Rosa County Republican Executive Committee’s Lincoln-Reagan Dinner, which took place in Milton. He shared this photo from the event on social media, showing him and his wife, Bridget, with Santa Rosa County State Committeeman David Farrow (right) and Walton County State Committeeman Tim Norris (rear).
The Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) on December 17 hosted an emergency meeting and voted unanimously to suspend its chairman, Christian Ziegler, who is under investigation by Sarasota Police Department following a rape accusation against him by an alleged prior consensual sex partner of his and his wife, Bridget, a Sarasota County School Board member.
The RPOF’s 39-0 vote removed the authority of Ziegler to take certain actions without board approval ahead of a January 8 meeting at which his formal removal is expected.
Michael Thompson, chairman of the Lee County Republican Party, shared the motion to suspend Ziegler’s authority and posted during the meeting that the chairman was “on soap box trying to defend himself, not working.”
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, U.S. Senator Rick Scott and U.S. Congressman Matt Gaetz have also called for Ziegler to resign.
According to police reports, the Zieglers reportedly had a previous consensual sexual relationship with the alleged rape victim, who claimed the threesome planned another encounter for October 2, 2023.
According to a search warrant affidavit, after the alleged victim found out Bridget would be unable to attend the October 2 hookup, she cancelled. However, surveillance footage shows Christian arriving at her apartment, where she claims he raped her on a bar stool.
Ziegler, who has not been charged with a crime, alleges the October 2024 sex was consensual.
The Sarasota County School Board on December 12 passed a resolution, voting 5-1 to call for Bridget Ziegler, who is also the founder of Moms for Liberty, to resign amid the sex scandal. She was the sole vote against the measure and so far has not quit.
