U.S. News

Andrew Gillum Was Arrested With Meth in His Car on an Alabama Highway

By Mike Harper · July 8, 2026

Andrew Gillum nearly became the governor of Florida. He lost to Ron DeSantis by 33,000 votes in 2018 — the closest gubernatorial race in the state’s modern history. In the eight years since, his life has produced a different kind of headline every time.

Gillum, 46, was arrested July 2 in Daphne, Alabama after police pulled him over for erratic driving on US Highway 98 at 10:45 PM and found a glass pipe on his center console, three packages of methamphetamine, and several rolled marijuana cigarettes in a search of his vehicle. He was charged with possession of dangerous drugs — a felony under Alabama law — along with drug paraphernalia and marijuana possession. He was booked into the Baldwin County jail and released on $6,500 bond the following morning.

Under Alabama law, the felony drug charge carries up to five years in prison and a $7,500 fine.

This is Gillum’s third major legal crisis since his near-miss gubernatorial campaign. In March 2020, he was found unresponsive in a Miami Beach hotel room where police discovered baggies of suspected crystal methamphetamine. A male escort in the room had suffered a drug overdose. Gillum said he had been drinking but denied using meth. He later came out as bisexual on national television and entered a rehabilitation program.

In 2022, he was indicted on 19 federal charges related to alleged campaign contribution fraud during his 2018 run. In 2023, a jury acquitted him of lying to the FBI. The remaining 18 charges were ultimately dropped.

He has not issued a public statement about the Alabama arrest.

Gillum served as mayor of Tallahassee from 2014 to 2018 before winning the Democratic primary for governor, defeating former US Representative Gwen Graham. He was endorsed by Bernie Sanders and Barack Obama. He was 39 years old on election night 2018. He was considered one of the most promising young politicians in the Democratic Party.

He is now 46, facing a felony drug charge in Alabama, and has cycled through a hotel room incident, a federal indictment, an acquittal, and now a traffic stop on a Gulf Coast highway with methamphetamine in the car.

Daphne Police Chief Brian Gulsby confirmed the details of the arrest in a news release. The case will be prosecuted in Baldwin County.