Former Florida gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum is back in the news after an arrest on drug possession charges.
Gillum, 46, was taken into custody on the night of July 2 in Daphne, Alabama, according to the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office’s website.
The former Tallahassee mayor was charged with three counts — possession of dangerous drugs, possession of drug paraphernalia, and marijuana possession.
The Daphne Police Department told Florida news station WJHG-TV officers stopped Gillum after they saw him driving erratically around 10:45 p.m.
During the traffic stop, officers searched his vehicle and said they found several rolled marijuana cigarettes and three packages containing a substance that later tested positive for meth.
Related: Andrew Gillum Gets Candid About His Personal Life With Tamron Hall
He was booked into the Daphne City Jail before being transported to the Baldwin County Correctional Facility. Gillum posted bond and was released from custody on July 3, according to the sheriff’s office.
Once considered a rising star in the Democratic Party, Gillum became the first Black nominee of a major political party to run for governor in Florida. He narrowly lost the 2018 election to Republican Ron DeSantis.
Gillum returned to the national spotlight in March 2020, after first responders were called to a Miami Beach hotel room where he was staying.
Police said Gillum was found with drug paraphernalia and another man who was later identified by several media outlets as a male escort. Officers also said Gillum “was unable to communicate due to his inebriated state.”
No one was charged in the case, and Gillum soon stepped away from politics. In a 2021 interview with GQ, the male escort said he met Gillum on the dating app Grindr about two weeks before the March 2020 incident.
In September 2020, the former politician and his wife, R. Jai Gillum, sat down for an interview on Tamron Hall. Gillum told host Tamron Hall he is bisexual, adding that he had never spoken publicly about his sexuality.
“I don’t identify as gay, but I do identify as bisexual,” he said. “And that is something that I’ve never shared publicly before.”
His wife said she was aware that he is bisexual, and discussed her husband’s decision to publicly come out.
“So many people just don’t understand bisexuality,” she said. “Bisexuality is just something different. I just believe that love and sexuality exist on a spectrum. All I care about is what’s between us and what agreement we make.”
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