Peter Feaman running for Florida GOP Chair

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Republican National Committeeman Peter Feaman told party members he’s running for Republican Party of Florida State Chair.

The Boynton Beach Republican sent out an email a couple days after the state party’s executive board censured and sidelined sitting Chair Christian Ziegler amid a sex scandal.

“Like many of you, I have found the news about our Party Chairman to be shocking, depressing, and unnerving. Please join me in prayer for Christian Ziegler and his family,” Feaman wrote. “As difficult as it may be, we cannot allow media narratives or high drama to distract us from our mission: We still have a country to save! We must keep Florida RED next year and ensure crooked Joe Biden is a one term president.”

The state party’s full executive committee is expected to meet in Tallahassee on Jan. 8, where members are expected to formally remove Ziegler as Chair and to elect his replacement.

For his part, Feaman thinks any election for a new party leader should wait until a regular quarterly meeting later in the year.

“Under the Republican Party Constitution and Rules, a Special Election is required to be held when there is a vacancy in the office of Chairman,” Feaman argued in his email. “Since there is no vacancy as yet, that election should be held at our annual meeting in February. Any election before that would violate our Constitution and Rules.”

He told Florida Politics he also has concerns about scheduling a meeting in Tallahassee on a Monday. “That is going to disenfranchise a huge number of committee members,” Feaman said, who isn’t confident the meeting will have a quorum. “They simply are not going to be able to make it. They have jobs and things to do. I’ve already been told by a dozen members they won’t be able to make it.”

Feaman is the second candidate to announce a run for the state party’s top post. RPOF Vice Chair Evan Power announced his candidacy Tuesday morning, and has secured endorsements from U.S. Rep. Neal Dunn, a Panama City Republican, and state Sen. Joe Gruters, Ziegler’s predecessor as RPOF Chair.

Since 2012, Feaman has represented Florida on the Republican National Committee. He already has made clear he will not seek another term in that capacity.

“When I said last month I was not going to seek another term, I also said I don’t intend to retire and that I don’t know what’s in store for me,” Feaman told Florida Politics. “Then all of the sudden this happened.”

Importantly, Power is serving in an acting capacity as Chair now, and is expected to be the one running the meeting in January. That likely means if any objection to an election of a new Chair is raised, it will first fall to Power to decide if a vote is in order.

The background over the procedure of choosing a new leader comes as Republicans brace for a high-stakes Presidential Election year with a number of key players from Florida. Both former President Donald Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis are campaigning for the Republican presidential nomination, and Florida’s Presidential Primary is scheduled for March 19.

Feaman said he doesn’t think the looming primary will be much of a problem as the party only handles qualification, and a slate of candidates has already been submitted to the state. It’s up to local election supervisors to actually administer the election.

He believes the party should stay neutral; and notably believes Power is too close to the DeSantis campaign to maintain an air of impartiality.

The shake-up in leadership follows news that Ziegler was under active criminal investigation for rape. Ziegler said a sexual encounter with an accuser was consensual, but he and his wife, Sarasota County School Board member Bridget Ziegler, have told police they engaged in a threesome with the woman in the past, investigation documents show.

Ziegler has rebuffed calls to resign, even since having his salary reduced to $1.