![]() ![]() His refusal to step down has forced party members to deal with an ongoing embarrassment ahead of the 2024 elections - a time when members would rather be planning fundraising and strategy sessions instead of seeking ways to oust their party leader. The allegations and Ziegler’s defiance, however, have put state Republicans in a deeply awkward position. A video of the encounter obtained by police andĭetailed to the Florida Center for Government Accountability - the watchdog group that first broke the story - appears to refute certain claims from the woman who made the allegations. Ziegler has maintained that he’s innocent of rape allegations. He added that Ziegler had the right to defend himself legally but that the party was facing a “political problem” given the details of the case that have emerged.įlorida Politics that Ziegler asked for a $2 million payout, though two Republicans who agreed to speak with POLITICO on conditions of anonymity - given that the meeting was supposed to be closed-door and confidential - said Ziegler called the payout a lie and challenged those present to speak up if he’d asked for the money. “You can’t morally lead the Republican Party forward,” given the allegations, Evan Power, the vice chair of the group who is temporarily in charge of the Florida GOP, said after leaving the meeting. Multiple people who left the ballroom where the meeting was being held described the atmosphere as “very tense.” The party’s executive board voted during a less than two-hour meeting to reduce Ziegler’s salary and suspend his reimbursements, which together had been about $124,000 a year, and set a three-week countdown to formally oust him from his position. Party members Sunday said they were enraged that Ziegler wouldn’t resign voluntarily and had allowed the situation to escalate, forcing them to travel from all over the state to hold a meeting in the middle of a holiday season and during a weekend of heavy storms. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott and legislative leaders. Ziegler had for weeks faced calls from top Florida Republicans to step down, including Gov. ![]()
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