TALLAHASSEE, FL—In a rare break from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, the Republican-led Senate has refused to confirm DeSantis-ally and Moms for Liberty co-founder, Tina Descovich, to the state ethics commission due to an unnamed Senator's concern of "lobbying the Legislature".
Moms for Liberty is considered a right-wing, parental rights advocacy group that Descovich proudly co-founded in January 2021. However, her employment seems to have hindered her ability to climb the legal ladder, as she was likely not confirmed because an anonymous senator worried that her involvement with Moms for Liberty "could constitute lobbying the Legislature".
“That issue requires additional review prior to Senate confirmation,” Senate spokesperson Katie Betta said in a statement to the Tampa Bay Times and Miami Herald. “In the meantime, Ms. Descovich is eligible to be reappointed by the governor, and can continue to serve subject to Senate confirmation next session.”
DeSantis appointed Descovich to the Florida Commission on Ethics in September, but she isn't the first Moms for Liberty member to find herself in a government position. Last year, DeSantis appointed member Esther Byrd to the state Board of Education, and co-founder Bridget Ziegler to the board overseeing Walt Disney's special district in central Florida, Politico reports.
Descovich’s appointment further shows the prominent place Moms for Liberty holds with the Governor, and her rejection by the Republican-led Senate is all that much more shocking in a potential demonstration of conservative infighting.
DeSantis spokesman Bryan Griffin said Descovich will be reappointed “as soon as she is eligible for reappointment if she is not confirmed by the Senate.”
The conservative and traditionalist Moms for Liberty group was recently embroiled in a sex scandal involving co-founder Bridget Ziegler. Her husband Christian Ziegler, the then-GOP Chair, was accused of raping a woman that he and Bridget had had sexual relations with in the past.
It was announced yesterday that Christian Ziegler would not be criminally charged. Bridget, currently serving on the Sarasota County School Board, has been repeatedly asked to step down, and at a January school board meeting, over 60 speakers came forward demanding her resignation.
