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Andrew Gillum, who narrowly lost a bid for Florida governor, is facing drug charges after being arrested in Alabama, law enforcement records show.Gillum, the former mayor of Tallahassee who lost to Ron DeSantis in the 2018 gubernatorial race, was arrested by the Daphne Police Department on charges of possession of dangerous drugs, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of marijuana, Baldwin County Sheriff's Office records show.He was booked into the local jail the night of July 2 in Daphne, a small town outside Mobile. He was released from custody the following day, online records show.USA TODAY has reached out to Daphne police for more information.Gillum did not immediately respond to a text message from the Tallahassee Democrat, part of the USA TODAY Network.Gillum was elected to the Tallahassee City Commission in 2003 and as mayor in 2014, serving a single term. In 2018, he pulled off an upset win in the Democratic primary for Florida governor but lost in the general election to DeSantis, then a former congressman. Following the defeat, in 2020, he was found passed out in a Miami hotel room with another man who was suffering from a suspected drug overdose. Small baggies of suspected crystal methamphetamine were found in the room, but Gillum denied using drugs and no charges were filed.Gillum publicly apologized and went to rehab for alcohol abuse, but his political career never recovered.In 2022, he and a close adviser were arrested in a public corruption probe that led to earlier convictions against another former Tallahassee mayor, Scott Maddox, and two others. The charges were dropped in 2023 after his trial ended with a hung jury.Gillum went on to co-host the podcast “Native Land Pod,” which won an NAACP Image Award in 2025.Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X @nataliealund.Contact Jeff Burlew, with the Tallahassee Democrat, at jburlew@tallahassee.com or 850-599-2180.
