From board meetings to birthday parties: An inside look at political powerhouse couple Christian and Bridget Ziegler

SARASOTA, Fla. (FLV) – Powerhouse couple Christian and Bridget Zeigler are movers and shakers in the political realm, recently making headlines after being elected and appointed to very important positions.

As they balance board meetings and birthday parties, they revealed to Florida’s Voice what it takes to raise three daughters while they navigate a life in the political limelight, where often, internet critics are loud and unforgiving.

“You just have to have the confidence that what you’re doing, and what you believe in, is right – and that really has to motivate you, more so than any of these angry tweets…” Christian said.

And as they enter new positions within the world of politics, they have an underlying, unified mission: serving the community and fighting for the future of their children.

“I read all this stuff, but I don’t let it bother me […] I’m laser focused on what’s important, and I encourage everyone – what is your motivation to make sure that we save this country?” Christian asked.

“I have a nine, six, and four-year-old, and they’re my motivation. So, when I’m taking actions or I’m doing something, it’s always in my mind: is this something that’s going to improve my local community, state, and country for them? That’s all I care about. The other stuff is just noise,” Christian said.

Christian Ziegler was recently elected as chairman of the Republican Party of Florida. He previously served as vice chairman for the party since 2019.

Bridget Ziegler, the Sarasota County School Board chair, was appointed to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ newly-formed Central Florida Tourism Oversight District board to oversee the district encompassing Walt Disney World. Bridget is also the Director of School Board Programs at The Leadership Institute.

“We live in a world of keyboard warriors, right, where people are frustrated but no one’s taking action to do something and affect positive change. And they should, and they can!” Bridget said.

Bridget admitted that although running for office is not for the faint of heart, she said more people would be surprised that they too can take on a public office position.

As the couple shares the same passions, Bridget said they are having fun working together and lean on each other for support in the process.

“People aren’t used to being underneath that magnifying glass, and sometimes they can feel very lonely, but when your spouse really understands that and gets it – I think that makes it easier. He has been an incredible support throughout this journey and I love it – I’m very, very grateful,” Bridget said.

“My wife is my top advisor, right, and that’s nice to have at home, and we share a lot of conversations, we share a lot of battles that we are engaged in… sometimes they’re separate, or are other times that we’re actually fighting the same fight, like with trying to flip the local school board here, which we’re successful doing,” Christian said.

The Sarasota School Board flipped from a 3-2 liberal majority to a 4-1 conservative majority in the August 2022 election, a huge achievement for Bridget, who has been serving on the board since 2014.

Before she was elected to the school board, Bridget worked in the risk and insurance industry for 15 years as a Corporate Risk Consultant with two of the largest global risk and insurance brokerage firms.

“I’ve learned a lot from him and I’ve surprised myself. I think it’s because he has pushed me in a way, to step off ledges that I may have probably talked myself out of, and I’m glad he has,” Bridget said.

Christian said there’s a lot of “cross-pollination” in their fields, and it always keeps them engaged and interested.

“It’s actually brought us a lot closer, gives us a lot more common things that we can talk about and relate to, so the conversations are deeper and better when we’re talking about work. I mean, she was in insurance before, and that was like a big snooze for me,” he said.

Christian said his wife gets attacked online – simply because she’s a conservative woman.

“It has nothing to do with her work ethic – it has nothing to do with her competence, it has everything to do with the fact that she’s advancing conservative principles, causes, and priorities,” Christian said.

“I think that what’s frustrating, actually, what’s interesting, too, is the people that yell the most for advancing women and recognizing women, are the first to be the most aggressive and attacking her,” he said.

Despite the attacks, Christian said his wife is a “very strong, powerful, impressive woman, and she powers right through it.”

While their newly elected and appointed positions come at the same time, they are not new to the political arena. Their hard work and efforts have been a decade in the making.

Christian was elected to serve as Sarasota County’s State Committeeman in 2012 and was re-elected without opposition in 2016. During the 2016 presidential election, Christian served as a media surrogate for the Donald Trump campaign and as a delegate to the 2016 Republican National Convention.

He also founded Microtargeted Media, LLC, a digital marketing firm specializing in website design, digital and social media advertising.

While both hold an esteemed resume, they said their work is far from done.

“I just feel good, and I’m excited to take the helm, and I’m gonna work about as hard as anyone could ever work as a chairman. Our work is not done. I’m gonna keep it in the ground, running fast and running hard,” he said.

“I think we’re gonna have a good next two years. And obviously, we got a presidential race. That’ll be fun – to say the least. I’m just excited to head up the organization, I got a lot of respect for it, a lot of appreciation. I have a lot of time and effort put into it. But now, I’m going to increase all of that, tenfold,” Christian said.

Ahead of the first Central Florida Tourism Oversight District board meeting on Wednesday, Bridget said she is honored and humbled to be appointed by the governor.

“The fact is that the governor has been very bold in a number of fronts, and certainly, when it came to the situation with Disney, certainly realizing that no company nor individuals should have any kind of special privileges,” Bridget said. “They’re leveling the playing field, if you will, and making sure there’s transparency, and accountability and in that same manner that other organizations have to abide by as well.”

Over at the Leadership Institute, Bridget’s passion for training others stems from her experience being elected in 2014, and feeling that there wasn’t a place that provided training to help her be effective. Now, she’s making sure others have a better pathway to success.

“We need to help train these school board members, otherwise, all this will be for naught,” Bridget said.

“I realize how hard it is to win those elections, and then when you get there, it’s daunting, and you want to serve your community well, but you want to be able to trust the verified things right? And really make the change and in an effective way, not just for the sake of being reckless or raising issue with everything,” she explained.

The Leadership Institute will open their Florida headquarters in downtown Sarasota, which will have a training space and studio, where they plan to launch a podcast in the near future. Additionally, they are hosting a summit in April for education leaders.

As for the Sarasota school board, Bridget said they are in the process of searching for a new superintendent.

Back in December, the newly-conservative majority school board ousted Superintendent Dr. Brennan Asplen.

“We can’t keep going and selecting the same kind of superintendent, which is an executive, and I look at them as a CEO, and expect different results. I think our interim is doing a great job, so I don’t want to cast that out, but I am interested to see if we get some ‘out-of-the-box’ kind of applicants,” Bridget said.

As they head into a new season of life, the Ziegler’s have each other’s backs, and will continue to work hard – for not only their children’s futures – but the free state of Florida.