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The Michigan GOP is an absolute mess right now, as they have saddled themselves with a leader who is godawful, and who refuses to relinquish power. The Florida GOP had a similar problem, at least until yesterday.
Kristina Karamo, the GOP leader in Michigan, is a nutty Trumper, not unlike Kari Lake or Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA). Christian Ziegler, the GOP leader in Florida, has liabilities that are ultimately much more serious: He is an accused rapist. Ziegler does not deny the sexual encounter, and he and his wife do not deny that they had a three-way thing going with the alleged victim. But of course—as is the situation roughly 100% of the time in these cases—Ziegler says the encounter was consensual.
Maybe that is true, and maybe it isn't. However, defending oneself against a rape charge is incongruous with being the head of, and the face of, the Florida GOP during an election cycle (especially when the party's presidential nominee is from Florida). There's the PR angle, of course, and there's also the fact that this is not the time to be splitting one's time between politics and being in court. Well, unless you're the aforementioned presidential nominee, that is.
In any event, Ziegler refused to do the decent (and prudent) thing and resign, so his fellow Republicans voted to fire him. The primary concern was the PR; the folks who voted to expel Ziegler said that extramarital sexual dalliances and rape charges are simply not compatible with the Republicans' "family values" message. Again, this would appear to be a standard that does not apply to Republican presidential candidates.
The new leader of the Florida GOP is Evan Power, who was vice chair (i.e., #2) until Ziegler was tossed overboard. Ziegler's baggage was apparently having a very negative effect on fundraising, and now the party pooh-bahs hope that Power will be able to get the money flowing again. Could be tough, given the GOP money vacuum down south at Mar-a-Lago. (Z)