Florida school board asks member Bridget Ziegler to quit amid sex assault probe of husband, the state GOP chairman

A Florida school board voted Tuesday to recommend the resignation of one of its members because she's embroiled in the fallout of a sexual assault investigation into her husband, the Republican Party state chairman.

The Sarasota County School Board can't directly remove Bridget Ziegler from the panel but voted 4-1 Tuesday for a resolution requesting that she step down. The resolution was authored by board Chair Karen Rose, who said in an email that she is "shocked and deeply saddened" by the rape allegations involving Ziegler's husband, Christian Ziegler, and the couple's admissions about having a three-way sexual encounter previously with the accuser.

"I personally care about Bridget and her family and deeply regret the necessity for this course of action, but given the intense media scrutiny locally and nationally, her continued presence on the Board would cause irreparably harmful distractions to our critical mission," Rose wrote.