Andrew Gillum | |
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![]() Gillum in 2014 | |
126th Mayor of Tallahassee | |
In office November 21, 2014 – November 19, 2018 | |
Preceded by | John Marks |
Succeeded by | John E. Dailey |
Member of the Tallahassee City Commission for the 2nd seat | |
In office February 28, 2003 – November 21, 2014 | |
Preceded by | John Paul Bailey |
Succeeded by | Curtis B. Richardson |
Personal details | |
Born | Andrew Demetric Gillum July 26, 1979 Miami, Florida, U.S. |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse |
Rashada Jai Howard (m. 2009) |
Children | 3 |
Education | Florida A&M University (BA) |
Website | Official website |
Andrew Demetric Gillum (born July 26, 1979) is an American former politician who served as the 126th mayor of Tallahassee, Florida, from 2014 to 2018. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a Tallahassee city commissioner from 2003 until 2014, first elected at the age of 23.[1]
In 2018, Gillum was the nominee of the Florida Democratic Party to be the governor of Florida. He had won the Democratic primary election over a field of five other candidates, including former U.S. representative Gwen Graham and former Miami Beach mayor Philip Levine. In the general election, he lost in a close race to Republican U.S. representative Ron DeSantis. Gillum's margin of defeat was just 34,000 votes (0.4%), making the election one of the closest gubernatorial races in modern American history.
In 2020, an inebriated Gillum was found by police in a hotel room with a male escort. Suspected methamphetamine packets were also found in the room.[2] Gillum checked himself into drug rehabilitation afterwards and announced a withdrawal from public life "for the foreseeable future."[3]
In 2022, Gillum was indicted on 21 felony counts, including wire fraud, conspiracy, and making false statements, for allegedly diverting money raised during the campaign to a company controlled by one of his top advisors.[4][5] The jury found Gillum not guilty on the charge of making false statements and was hung on the remaining counts.[6] In May 2023, federal prosecutors moved to dismiss the remaining charges against Gillum.[7]
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