Former Florida Democratic gubernatorial nominee Andrew Gillum arrested on drug charges in Alabama: Report

Published July 7, 2026 10:03 AM EDT

Courtesy: Daphne Police Department

Former Florida Democratic gubernatorial nominee Andrew Gillum was arrested in Alabama last week on multiple drug-related charges, according to a report from TMZ.

Andrew Gillum drug arrest

The backstory:

According to TMZ, Gillum was taken into custody Thursday night by police in Daphne and booked into the Baldwin County Jail on charges of possession of dangerous drugs, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of marijuana.

Previous Florida hotel incident

Dig deeper:

The arrest comes several years after Gillum was involved in a high-profile incident in 2020.

In March 2020, police and paramedics responded to a room at the Mondrian South Beach after reports that a man had possibly overdosed. Gillum and another man were found inside the hotel room.

Police body camera footage later showed prescription pill bottles and small bags containing suspected methamphetamine inside the room. However, prosecutors ultimately decided not to file criminal charges against Gillum or the other man, citing insufficient evidence to directly link either individual to the drugs.

Gillum's Florida political career

What we know:

Gillum served as mayor of Tallahassee from 2014 to 2018. He won the Democratic nomination for Florida governor in 2018 before narrowly losing the general election to Ron DeSantis by roughly 30,000 votes.

Investigation details

What we don't know:

The Daphne Police Department has not released additional information about the investigation or the arrest.

The Source: The information in this story is based on reporting by TMZ and publicly available Baldwin County Jail records.

FloridaCrime & Public Safety