Andrew Gillum Tests Positive for Meth, Faces New Jail Time in Alabama Drug Case

Andrew Gillum, the former Tallahassee mayor who lost the 2018 Florida governor's race to Ron DeSantis by less than half a percentage point, is back in jail after failing a court-ordered drug test, according to TMZ.

Baldwin County Assistant District Attorney John Oxford told TMZ that Gillum is enrolled in a "color code" drug testing program as part of his release conditions. Under that system, participants are assigned a color and must call a hotline daily. When their color is announced, they have to report for testing that day.

Oxford said Gillum missed his scheduled test on the day his color was called. He was tested instead at a court appearance Thursday, and the result came back positive for methamphetamine, according to TMZ's reporting relayed by Breitbart News.

The positive test follows Gillum's arrest in July on charges of possession of dangerous drugs, drug paraphernalia, and marijuana possession, according to Breitbart News. Details on the specific circumstances of that July arrest were not laid out beyond the charges themselves.

A pattern going back years

This is not Gillum's first public brush with drugs. In March 2020, Miami Beach police found Gillum in a hotel room with two other men, one of whom was being treated by first responders for a suspected overdose, according to the police report cited by Breitbart News at the time.

Officers said Gillum was too intoxicated to communicate and was found vomiting in the bathroom. The police report stated officers observed "three small clear plastic baggies containing suspected crystal meth" in plain sight on the bed and floor. One of the men in the room told police he had "discovered [the overdose victim] and Andrew Gillum inside the room under the influence of an unknown substance."

Gillum was not charged criminally over that 2020 incident. He publicly came out as bisexual afterward, addressing the presence of two men in the hotel room, one of whom had initially been identified as an escort.

Separately, in 2018, Breitbart News reported that Gillum's family was under investigation over allegations of possible voter fraud tied to his mayoral and gubernatorial campaigns. No conviction or formal charges tied to that investigation were reported as resulting from it.

What's proven, what isn't

The 2026 jail return rests on a specific, verifiable process. A failed court-ordered drug test was administered after Gillum missed a scheduled call-in, confirmed by a named Baldwin County prosecutor.

The July arrest that preceded it involved formal charges of drug and paraphernalia possession, which are matters of public record in Alabama's court system, though the underlying details of that arrest were not fully described in available reporting.

The 2020 Miami Beach incident is the murkiest of the three. Police found drugs in the room and documented Gillum's condition, but no criminal charges were filed against him in connection with it. Being present where drugs were found and being convicted of possessing them are two different legal outcomes, and only the former happened here.

What happens now

Gillum's immediate legal exposure centers on how Baldwin County's court handles a probation or pretrial violation stemming from the failed test. Color-code drug testing programs like the one Oxford described are common conditions of pretrial release or diversion programs, and a positive result typically triggers a judge's review of bail, sentencing, or program eligibility.

Gillum has not issued a public statement responding to the positive test result, according to available reporting.

Gillum's political career effectively ended after his 2018 loss and the fallout from the 2020 hotel incident, though he remained a visible figure in Democratic circles for a period afterward. Whether this latest development leads to jail time, treatment mandates, or another outcome will depend on how Baldwin County's court proceeds in the coming weeks.