Florida GOP chairman candidates boast endorsements ahead of Jan. 8 election

By Owen Girard

Published Jan. 5, 2024, 4:38 p.m. ET | Updated Jan. 12, 2024

Florida GOP logo. (Image/Republican Party of Florida)

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Republican Party of Florida has been preparing for their upcoming chairman election that is set to be hosted on Monday in Tallahassee.

Florida National Committeeman Peter Feaman and state Vice Chairman Evan Power are set to face off as the main contenders in the election.

Power and Feaman entered the chairman race after the party voted to censure the sitting chairman, Christian Ziegler, for an ongoing sexual assault investigation he has been involved in. Even though Ziegler maintains he is innocent, party members plan to vote on Ziegler’s membership status during the Jan. 8 meeting.

Power boasts endorsements from many Florida elected officials, including Gov. Ron DeSantis, U.S. Reps. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., Kat Cammack, R-Fla., U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Florida Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson.

State Sens. Joe Gruters, R-Sarasota, and Blaise Ingoglia, R-Spring Hill, who were both previous Florida GOP chairmen, also endorsed him.

Feaman has also collected support from various states, including California GOP National Commiteewoman Harmeet Dhillon and 28 additional national committeemen and women.

Locally he has secured support from prominent individuals such as John Stemberger, president of the Florida Family Policy Council.

The decision to host a meeting on Monday was a controversial move that left some party members feel as if it was unfair. Due to these concerns, a petition was sent out to leadership in the Florida GOP, demanding the date and location of the election be changed.

“Evan should make time to campaign for the position like everyone else!” the petition said. “Rigging the Tallahassee election to be unfair for other candidates does not bring this party together. It makes us more divided than ever.”

Santa Rosa County Republican Party Chairwoman Sharon Regan told Florida’s Voice that it was “completely unfair” for Power to “ram through” the election in Tallahassee on Jan. 8.

Regan highlighted concerns that the petition expressed about Power’s meeting being in the middle of a work day and right before session.

“The vice chairman has got the gavel, he’s got the meeting, he’s got the logistics, he’s got his friends and he’s avoiding the votes of the people who would vote differently,” Regan said.