Florida school board approves resolution calling for Bridget Ziegler to resign over Republican sex scandal

SARASOTA, Fla. — As the Sarasota County School Board convened for the final time this year on Tuesday, Bridget Ziegler entered the board chambers facing a rift largely driven by agenda item No. 1: a colleague's resolution calling for her resignation.

Despite Ziegler's four board colleagues voting to call for her to resign and hours of public comment mostly urging her to do so, there was no indication she was considering stepping down.

The rising demands for her resignation came amid emerging details of her involvement in a three-way sexual relationship, which became public as a sexual assault investigation into her husband, Christian Ziegler unfolded.

In her first public appearance since reports surfaced of the sexual assault allegation against her husband, Ziegler appeared defiant. She asked the board's legal counsel, Patrick Duggan, about the nature of the resolution, who described it as "ceremonial in nature" because the board has no authority to remove a member.

“You know, I am disappointed. As people may know, I serve on another public board and this issue did not come up and we were able to forge ahead with the business of the board," said Bridget Ziegler, referring to her governor-appointed position on the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District.

Bridget Ziegler did not respond to several requests for comment from Herald-Tribune reporters before the meeting. At a workshop earlier in the day, Bridget Ziegler quickly exited the chambers with a police officer while communications director Craig Maniglia told reporters that the board member was not available for comment.

Bridget Ziegler won her most recent election in August 2022, meaning her term expires in 2026 should she choose to not resign.

Only Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis could remove her from her seat, and school board members are not subject to recall elections. If Bridget Ziegler were to resign, the governor would appoint someone to serve until the next election cycle in 2024.

Before the meeting, board Chairwoman Karen Rose and members Tom Edwards and Tim Enos each publicly called on Bridget Ziegler to resign. Both conservative and liberal School Board activist groups have also called on Bridget Ziegler to resign.

Christian Ziegler also faces mounting pressure from DeSantis and other Republicans to resign his position as Florida GOP chairman. In police documents, the alleged victim and Bridget Ziegler both told police they had a three-way sexual encounter more than a year ago that included the two women and Christian Ziegler.

Sarasota School Board members say the focus should be on students

At the start of Tuesday's meeting, Rose noted that the board had no student representative to honor and no student performances scheduled, citing the divisive circumstances of the meeting. She emphasized that her resolution to ask Bridget Ziegler to resign was intended to help keep the board focused on student achievement.

"It's not about the left it's not about the right, it's about students," she said.

Enos echoed Rose's sentiment following the vote but said he would leave the decision to Bridget Ziegler rather than taking the issue to the governor.

"Whether it's Democrat, Republican, whatever it is, it should be only about the kids," Enos said. "My decision tonight was only about the kids."

Activist groups have called Bridget Ziegler's involvement in a relationship "hypocritical" as Bridget Ziegler has been a vocal advocate for legislation such as the Parental Rights in Education Act, dubbed "Don't Say Gay" by critics. Bridget Ziegler has also posted transphobic content on her social media.

Rose, Edwards, and Enos all said that Bridget Ziegler would be a "distraction" from the work of the School Board should she remain. Enos, who told the Herald-Tribune, part of the USA TODAY Network, on Friday that he felt Bridget Ziegler should resign, campaigned with Ziegler under the "ZEM" movement promoted by conservative Republicans to flip the ideological majority of the board in 2022.

Edwards pointed out that at the previous board meeting, he asked the members to move forward with a focus on student achievement. Now, only two weeks later, the district board meetings were back to being about politics, he said.

"I am not judging Mrs. Ziegler, her husband or anything about the Zieglers, and I could," Edwards said. "What I'm going to do again is be student-centric myself, in every one of my actions. I'm going to ask you all to do the same because it doesn't appear that Mrs. Ziegler is going to resign."

Public comment focuses on Ziegler and resignation

Bridget Ziegler, at her elevated seat overseeing the board chambers, sat largely expressionless during the three hours of public comment that largely lambasted her and implored her to step down.

More than 70 people signed up to speak at the meeting. The first to speak was Martin Hyde, an unsuccessful congressional and city commission candidate in Sarasota who famously threatened a police officer. Hyde lauded Bridget Ziegler's decision to be present at the meeting, calling the resignation resolution a political move for Rose.

"This meeting is devoted to a motion that has no more authority than I would if I stood out in the street," Hyde said. "An utter and complete political charade for re-election."

Timothy Wagner also spoke in support of Ziegler, urging her to "stand strong."

Paulina Testerman, a local activist from Support Our Schools, called on Bridget Ziegler to resign. Testerman said she initially pitied Bridget Ziegler but said she felt Bridget Ziegler's hypocrisy made that difficult.

"Mrs. Ziegler, every time you want to wallow in self-pity and feign victimhood, just remember that you can't complain that it's raining when you're the one who created the storm," Testerman said.

Another local activist, Robin Williams, touted a petition to the board with nearly 2,000 signatures asking for Bridget Ziegler to resign.

Joyce Peralta also called on Bridget Ziegler to resign, adding that she felt Bridget Ziegler and her husband sought to profit from their positions instead of working for student achievement.

"Sarasota parents delighted this week in having to answer the question from their children: 'What is a three-way?'" Peralta said.

Representatives from activist groups also spoke during public comment, such as Nicholas Machuca from Equality Florida. During his comment, he said Bridget Ziegler had caused "indisputable" harm to the LGBTQ+ community and called for her to resign immediately.

"She has turned this school board into a circus and her continued occupation of a board seat is a joke and a stain on this district," he said.

Late in the public comment section, a coalition of LGBTQ+ students spoke against Bridget Ziegler and urged her to resign her seat.

August Ray, a senior at Sarasota High School, said policies that Bridget Ziegler advocated for almost made their parents disown them and asked Bridget Ziegler to resign.

"I find it deeply ironic that you, as a champion of the 'Don't Say Gay' bill, have been outed in the same way trans kids are outed in Sarasota County Schools," Ray said.

Zander Moricz, who was the class president at Pine View School in Osprey and now attends Harvard, said Bridget Ziegler deserved to lose her job, but not because of her private sex life.

"That defeats the lesson we've been trying to teach you, which is that a politician's job is to serve their community, not to police personal lives," Moricz said. "So, to be extra clear Bridget, you deserve to be fired from your job because you are terrible at your job."

Rally against Ziegler

Ahead of the board's 6 p.m. meeting, activist groups such as Support Our Schools rallied outside of the board chambers to call on Bridget Ziegler to resign. Drivers on Tamiami Trail honked in support as they traveled past the district building.

More than 50 people gathered to hear activists speak out against Bridget Ziegler, calling out her "hypocrisy" and urging her to resign.

"I'm not a big believer in karma, but this is a pretty good advertisement for it," said Tsi Day Smyth, a queer parent of four Sarasota students.

One counter-protester arrived halfway through the rally with a bullhorn. He yelled for Edwards to resign instead.

Follow Herald-Tribune Education Reporter Steven Walker on Twitter at @swalker_7. He can be reached at sbwalker@gannett.com.