SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) – Former Tallahassee mayor and one-time Florida Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum has been arrested on drug charges in Alabama.
The Daphne, Alabama, Police Department said Gillum was pulled over July 2 at about 10:45 p.m. on U.S. Highway 98 by patrol officers after they observed him driving erratically.
One of the officers saw a glass pipe on the center console of the vehicle, leading to a probable cause search of his car, Police Chief Brian Gulsby said in a news release.
Police say several rolled marijuana cigarettes and three packages of a substance that tested positive for methamphetamine were recovered.
Gillum was charged with unlawful possession of a controlled substance and possession of marijuana.
He was booked into the Daphne City Jail and later transported to the Baldwin County Correctional Facility. He has since been released, jail records show.
Gillum served as Tallahassee mayor from 2014-2018. He was also the Democratic challenger to Ron DeSantis during the 2018 General Election. He nearly won that election, obtaining 49.2% of the vote compared to the governor’s 49.6%.
In the primary election for that race, Gillum narrowly defeated former U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham, who is now running for lieutenant governor.
In March of 2020, after his election loss, Gillum was found unresponsive in a Miami Beach hotel room where authorities found baggies of suspected crystal methamphetamine. At the time, Gillum admitted to being drunk but denied using meth.
In 2019, the Florida Commission on Ethics found probable cause that Gillum violated state ethics laws when he accepted gifts during out-of-town excursions with lobbyists and vendors and failed to report them. This included tickets to a performance of the musical “Hamilton.” A settlement of $5,000 was agreed to in that case.
In 2022, he was indicted on multiple federal charges connected to campaign contribution fraud before and during his 2018 run for governor of Florida.
In 2023, he was found not guilty of lying to the FBI, and the remaining 18 charges against him were ultimately dropped.
— Information from WCTV-TV and The Associated Press was used in this report.
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