School board votes to oust 'Moms for Liberty' co-founder amid Florida GOP sex scandal

A Florida school board passed a resolution Tuesday calling for Moms of Liberty co-founder Bridget Ziegler to resign from its school board after she and her husband, the Republican Party state chairman, became embroiled in a purported sex scandal.

The Sarasota County School Board voted 4-1 for Ziegler to step down, with board Chair Karen Rose saying that the woman's continued presence on the board would only cause "irreparable harmful distractions" in light of the media scrutiny surrounding the scandal.

Ziegler's husband, Christian Ziegler, has been accused of raping a woman inside the woman’s Sarasota home on Oct. 2. He denies the allegations and has not been charged with a crime at the time of this reporting.

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Bridget told police previously that she, the victim and her husband had consensual sex together for over a year before the alleged crime occurred, according to reports.

According to text messages cited in the affidavit, the woman and the Zieglers had planned to again have group sex that day, but the woman backed out after Bridget "couldn't make it."

The board’s resolution is not legally binding. However, it sends a strong message that the board wants her ousted. Only Florida's Republican governor can remove a school board member, and only under certain conditions, such as a criminal charge.

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"I personally care about Bridget and her family and deeply regret the necessity for this course of action," Rose told The Associated Press.

Bridget is co-founder of the conservative Moms for Liberty group, a conservative political organization that advocates against school curricula that mention LGBT issues, race and ethnicity and critical race theory. The group began by campaigning against COVID-19 restrictions in schools, including mask and vaccine mandates. 

She also championed the Parental Rights in Education bill, dubbed by critics as the "Don’t Say Gay" bill, which bans school employees or third parties from giving classroom instruction on "sexual orientation" or "gender identity" in kindergarten through third grade in Florida.

Democrats and other critics say the Zieglers are hypocritical because the alleged sexual activities are at odds with the conservative views they espouse.

Bridget has served on the board since 2014, when she was appointed by then-Gov. Rick Scott, and had previously been its chair. She voted against the resolution, saying she was "disappointed" but gave no indication she would step down. 

Prior to the meeting, several dozen people marched outside carrying signs and chanting, "Hey hey, ho ho, Bridget Ziegler has got to go." Among the signs’ slogans were "Ban Bridget, not books" and "Real women aren’t homophobes."

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The vote comes as Christian Ziegler faces a vote on Sunday to remove him from his $120,000 a-year job in light of the rape allegations and the alleged affair, according to the Orlando Sentinel. 

So far, he has steadfastly refused to resign even as Gov. Ron DeSantis and most state Republican leaders want him out, the Orlando Sentinel reports. 

Fox News’ Pilar Arias and Jessica Chasmar as well as The Associated Press contributed to this report.