The Florida Republican Party on Sunday stripped chairman Christian Ziegler of his authority and all but $1 of his salary until it can remove him in the wake of a rape allegation and the admission that he and his wife had a three-way sexual liaison.

The unanimous decision by the Republican Party of Florida’s executive board to censure Ziegler took place at the Rosen Centre, the same Orlando hotel where he was elected chair just 10 months before.

The man Ziegler had defeated for the job, Evan Power, called Sunday’s special meeting in his role as vice chair and will take over almost all of Ziegler’s powers alongside treasurer Mike Moberley. Power said he expects the full committee to officially remove Ziegler at a meeting in Tallahassee on Jan. 8.

The motion to censure, shared on social media by Lee GOP chair Michael Thompson, stated that Ziegler “has engaged in conduct that renders him unfit for the office of Chairman …. [and] has injured the good name of the Republican Party of Florida, disturbed its well-being, and hampered the organization in performing its mission to support the principles, objectives, and values of the Republican Party.”

The censure stated that the party “has lost confidence in Christian Ziegler’s ability to
effectively lead” and requested his immediate resignation as chair.

Also approved was an immediate reduction of Ziegler’s $120,000 annual salary to $1.

The motion to suspend Ziegler’s powers included his authority to hire and fire employees, solicit funds, set any meetings on his future with the party, access any lines of credit, or speak on behalf of the party.

Ziegler has already become less visible in his role, with his last official email as party chairman sent out Nov. 29, the day before the first report of the allegations against him.

Ziegler has steadfastly refused to resign even as Gov. Ron DeSantis and most state Republican leaders said they wanted him out, a chorus joined Saturday by U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz.

The allegations were brought by a woman who says she had a previous consensual sexual encounter that included Ziegler and his wife, Bridget Ziegler, according to a Sarasota Police Department search warrant affidavit.

The affidavit states the woman told Sarasota police detectives she had agreed to have a sexual encounter including his wife on Oct. 2 but canceled when she learned Bridget wasn’t attending.

She told police that when she opened her door to walk her dog Ziegler entered her apartment and sexually assaulted her, according to the affidavit.

The affidavit said Bridget Ziegler told police she and her husband had been involved sexually with the woman but only once in the past year.

Ziegler has not been charged with a crime and released a statement earlier this month professing his innocence and claiming he and his wife were being “targeted.”

Bridget Ziegler was the lone vote on the Sarasota County School Board last week against a resolution asking her to resign from her post on the board. She has refused to do so.

She also serves on DeSantis’ handpicked tourism board that oversees the district containing Walt Disney World. She is a co-founder of the conservative group Moms for Liberty, which has fought to ban books about the LGBTQ community.