Former Florida Democratic gubernatorial nominee Andrew Gillum was arrested in Daphne, Alabama, last week on multiple drug charges, local police records show.
According to TMZ, the arrest occurred just before 11 p.m. on July 2 on U.S. Highway 98 and Walmart Drive, located near a Walmart in the Gulf Coast city.
According to the arrest report from the Daphne Police Department, officers discovered three grams of methamphetamine, eight pre-rolled marijuana joints, a bong, three pipes, and other drug paraphernalia inside Gillum’s car.
The 46-year-old former politician was booked into the Baldwin County jail on a felony charge of possession of a controlled substance, as well as misdemeanor charges for possession of drug paraphernalia and second-degree possession of marijuana. He was released from custody the following day, July 3.
The Daphne Police Department redacted the narrative section of the arrest report and has declined to provide additional details regarding the circumstances of the stop.
Following his release, Gillum traveled to New Orleans to participate in a July 4 panel discussion regarding the 2026 midterm elections at the ESSENCE Festival of Culture.
He spoke alongside Texas Representative Jasmine Crockett, New Jersey Representative LaMonica McIver, Louisiana State Senator Royce Duplessis, and his Native Land Pod co-hosts Angela Rye and Bakari Sellers. Gillum made no mention of his arrest during the public appearance.
This incident follows previous legal and personal controversies for the former mayor of Tallahassee, who narrowly lost the 2018 Florida gubernatorial race to Ron DeSantis. In March 2020, police found Gillum inebriated in a Miami-area hotel room alongside an escort who had overdosed.
A police report from that incident noted that bags of suspected crystal meth were recovered from the room, though no criminal charges were filed against Gillum.
Gillum later entered a rehabilitation facility for alcoholism and publicly addressed the situation during a September 2020 appearance on The Tamron Hall Show with his wife, R. Jai.
In 2022, federal prosecutors indicted Gillum on 21 criminal counts related to the alleged diversion of political donations into his personal accounts.
A May 2023 trial resulted in an acquittal on one count and a hung jury on the remaining charges. The U.S. Department of Justice subsequently dismissed all remaining charges.
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