Ivy Caldwell
Andrew Gillum: Former Florida Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate Arrested in Alabama on Drug Charges
Published
Andrew Gillum, who narrowly lost the 2018 Florida gubernatorial election to Ron DeSantis, has been arrested in Alabama on multiple drug-related charges, according to reports from TMZ.
On Thursday evening, Gillum was apprehended by law enforcement officers in Daphne, Alabama. He was subsequently booked into the Baldwin County jail on charges that include possession of dangerous drugs, possession of drug paraphernalia, and possession of marijuana. The Daphne Police Department has not yet disclosed further details regarding the circumstances leading to his arrest.
In a previous incident in 2020, Gillum was discovered alongside another man in a vulnerable state inside a hotel room at the Mondrian Hotel in South Beach, Florida. Paramedics responded to a 911 call made by a concerned individual who believed that one of the men had possibly overdosed.
Released police bodycam footage later revealed several prescription pill bottles within the room. Officers also confiscated three small bags containing methamphetamine during the incident.
Despite the evidence found in the hotel room, prosecutors chose not to file charges against Gillum or the other man due to a lack of conclusive evidence directly linking them to the drugs discovered at the scene.
Reflecting on the 2018 Florida gubernatorial election, Gillum won the Democratic primary but ultimately lost to Republican candidate Ron DeSantis by a margin of just 34,000 votes. Before his candidacy, Gillum served as the mayor of Tallahassee from 2014 to 2018.
Cameron Steel
Clara Hastings
