Andrew Gillum
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]
Andrew Gillum
John Paul Bailey
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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 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.[2][3] The jury found Gillum not guilty on the charge of making false statements and was hung on the remaining counts.[4] In May 2023, federal prosecutors moved to dismiss the remaining charges against Gillum.[5]
Early life and education[edit]
Gillum was born in Miami and raised in Gainesville, Florida. He is the fifth of seven children born to Charles and Frances Gillum, respectively a construction worker and a school bus driver. Gillum graduated from Gainesville High School in 1998 and was recognized by the Gainesville Sun as one of the city's "persons of the year." He then moved to Tallahassee to attend Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) to major in political science.[6]
Gillum served as president of the FAMU Student Government Association from 2001 to 2002 and was the first student member of the FAMU Board of Trustees. He was recognized by the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation as "emerging leader for 2003." Gillum was also a board member of the Black Youth Vote Coalition, a program of the National Coalition of Black Civic Participation in Washington, D.C. Gillum was elected to the Tallahassee City Commission prior to the completion of his college studies.[6][7]
Honors and accolades[edit]
Gillum has received various honors and accolades. While attending FAMU, Gillum was recognized by the National Center for Policy Alternatives in Washington, D.C., as the country's top student leader in 2001.[70] In 2004, he was named to Ebony magazine's "Fast Track 30 Leaders Who Are 30 and Under."[71] Gillum was named as a "2010 Emerging Leader" by Essence Magazine.[72]
As part of Florida A&M University's 2012 125th Anniversary Quasiquicentennial Celebration, Gillum was honored as an Outstanding Alumnus, along with 124 other FAMU alumni.[73] Also in 2012, Gillum was named as one of "50 Young Progressive Activists Who Are Changing America," by The Huffington Post.[74] In 2014, Gillum was named as one of the 40 Under 40 by The Washington Post political blog "The Fix."[75]
Personal life[edit]
On May 24, 2009, Gillum married Rashada Jai Howard, a fellow FAMU graduate.[76] The couple has three children.[7][77]
In March 2020, the Tallahassee Democrat reported that Gillum was one of three men, one of whom was experiencing a drug overdose, who were found by police with "plastic baggies of suspected crystal meth" in a hotel room in Miami Beach. No arrests were made. The person who overdosed has been reported by numerous outlets as a gay male escort.[78][79] Initially, Gillum was too inebriated to speak with police.[80] On March 16, Gillum stated that he would enter rehabilitation, citing struggles with alcohol and depression after narrowly losing the 2018 Florida gubernatorial race.[81]
On September 14, 2020, Gillum came out as bisexual in an interview with Tamron Hall on her nationally syndicated talk show.[82]