Bridget Ziegler resigns from nonprofit amid husband’s rape allegation
Bridget Ziegler speaks at the Moms for Liberty meeting in Philadelphia, Saturday, July 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
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TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Bridget Ziegler, a Sarasota County School Board member and co-founder of the Moms for Liberty parental advocacy group, has resigned from her position at a conservative nonprofit.
Ziegler stepped down from her role as Vice President of School Boards for the Leadership Institute, an organization that provides training for conservative activists. The Leadership Institute confirmed Ziegler’s departure to NewsNation affiliate WFLA on Wednesday.
Bridget Ziegler is married to Republican Party of Florida chairman Christian Ziegler, who faces mounting pressure to resign from his position as Sarasota police investigate a rape allegation against him.
Christian Ziegler has refused to step down, claiming he had a consensual sexual relationship with a woman who agreed to have sex with him and his wife. According to the Associated Press, the woman told police he raped her when she refused to have sex without Bridget Ziegler present.
Florida Democrats have called for Bridget Ziegler to step down from the Sarasota County School Board because she admitted to police the couple was part of a sexual relationship with another woman, despite her anti-LGBTQ+ political agenda.
“It is not about Bridget’s sexual orientation,” Democratic House Leader Fentrice Driskell said in a virtual news conference. “This is 100% about the hypocrisy. It is about the hypocrisy, the hypocrisy, the hypocrisy.”
Bridget Ziegler stepped down from Moms for Liberty as the organization gained popularity, hoping to use that newfound notoriety as a springboard for her own political ambitions. She has not stepped down from the board that now oversees Walt Disney World’s land development.
No charges have been filed against either Ziegler, but the rape investigation is still open. The accuser, who has reportedly known Christian Ziegler for two decades, told police in October that he forced his way into her apartment and raped her, according to search warrant affidavits from the Sarasota Police Department.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
