Andrew Gillum, the former Democratic nominee for governor of Florida and one-time mayor of Tallahassee, was arrested in Alabama last week on drug possession charges. The arrest marks a further downfall for a politician once regarded as a rising star in the Democratic Party, who narrowly lost the 2018 governor's race to Republican Ron DeSantis and has since been beset by scandal and personal difficulties.

Gillum, 46, was detained in Daphne on Thursday 2 July 2026 after police stopped his vehicle over alleged erratic driving. Officers reported spotting a glass pipe on the centre console, prompting a search that they say recovered several rolled marijuana cigarettes and three packages of a substance that tested positive for methamphetamine. He was booked on charges of unlawful possession of a controlled substance and possession of marijuana, held at the Baldwin County Correctional Facility and released the same day. Gillum now co-hosts the podcast "Native Land" with Angela Rye and Bakari Sellers and is a former CNN political commentator.