43 Facts About Andrew Gillum

Andrew Demetric Gillum was born on July 26,1979 and is an American former politician who served as the 126th mayor of Tallahassee from 2014 to 2018.

In 2018, Gillum was the nominee of the Florida Democratic Party to be the governor of Florida.

In 2022, Andrew 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.

Andrew Gillum was born in Miami and raised in Gainesville, Florida.

Andrew Gillum is the fifth of seven children born to Charles and Frances Gillum, respectively a construction worker and a school bus driver.

Andrew 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.

In 2003, aged 23, Andrew Gillum was elected to the Tallahassee City Commission for a one-year term, becoming the youngest person to be elected to the commission.

Andrew Gillum was a political science student at FAMU when he was elected.

Andrew Gillum was elected to a full four-year term, in 2004, garnering 72 percent of the vote, and was reelected in 2008 and again in 2012.

Andrew Gillum served a one-year term as Mayor Pro Tem from November 10,2004, through November 9,2005.

Andrew Gillum has served as lead commissioner for the Long Range Community Based Target Issue Committee.

In 2005, Andrew Gillum was one of the commissioners who voted to give themselves a new retirement benefit through deferred compensation.

Andrew Gillum championed the opening of the first Tallahassee Teen Center, the Palmer Munroe Center, which serves as a safe haven for many area youth and operates a restorative justice program.

Andrew Gillum stressed these results as some of the reasons for the great importance of the Palmer Munroe Center.

Andrew Gillum supported the city's development project of Cascades Park, located in downtown Tallahassee.

Andrew Gillum ran against three opponents: Larry Hendricks, Zach Richardson, and write-in candidate Evin Matthews.

In January 2015, Andrew Gillum strongly supported the City of Tallahassee joining in the Ban the Box campaign; arguing that the initiative does not stop the city from conducting background checks, but rather gives applicants a fair shot at employment and reduces recidivism.

On February 17,2015, Andrew Gillum welcomed United States secretary of transportation Anthony Foxx to Tallahassee to kick off the Grow America Express Tour.

Andrew Gillum contributed to the DOT Fastlane Blog, in which he stressed the importance of long-term transportation investments for America's mid-size cities.

Also in March 2015, Gillum participated in a conference call with other Florida mayors and United States deputy secretary of commerce, Bruce Andrews; a call in which Gillum stated his support for Congress to pass trade promotion legislation that would bolster international trade, and stressed the importance for local governments of a leveled playing field.

On March 27,2015, Andrew Gillum held the Mayor's Summit on Children, a large conference in which business and community leaders came together to learn about the importance of investments in quality Early Childhood Education.

Andrew Gillum stressed that investments in early childhood education have been proven to return six dollars for every one dollar invested; this is due to lowering community costs on those children as they grow older.

In May 2015, Andrew Gillum launched a 1,000 Mentors Initiative, which aimed to recruit 1,000 men and women from diverse backgrounds to increase youth mentoring opportunities in Tallahassee, and help youth in need.

In February 2017, Andrew Gillum apologized after the Tallahassee Democrat reported that his government office had been used to send emails through web-based software purchased from NGP VAN, a company that provides technology to Democratic and progressive campaigns.

Andrew Gillum reimbursed the city for the $5,082.45 cost of the software on March 2,2017.

In late January 2019, the Florida Commission on Ethics found probable cause that Andrew Gillum violated state ethics laws when he accepted gifts during out-of-town excursions with lobbyists and vendors and failed to report them.

Andrew Gillum announced his candidacy for governor in March 2017, and was the first to declare his intention to run as a Democrat.

Andrew Gillum was the first black nominee for governor in Florida's history.

Andrew Gillum conceded to Republican candidate Ron DeSantis on the evening of November 6,2018.

In May 2019, the FBI subpoenaed Andrew Gillum regarding his gubernatorial campaign.

Andrew Gillum has been widely described as a progressive, and by some conservatives as a democratic socialist.

Andrew Gillum seeks to expand Medicaid to cover "700,000 people, who right now don't have access to health care".

Andrew Gillum wants to raise the Florida corporate tax rate to 7.75 percent, up from the current 5.5 percent, which he said would be used on education funding.

Andrew Gillum was endorsed by Bernie Sanders and received financial support from Tom Steyer and George Soros.

Andrew Gillum accepts the scientific consensus on climate change, and has warned that climate change causes sea level rise with adverse effects for Florida.

Andrew Gillum opposed the Trump administration's decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, and said that he would as Florida governor work with other states in a state-based climate alliance.

Andrew Gillum is in favor of a 2018 ballot proposition, Amendment 4, to restore the voting rights of most individuals who have completed felony convictions.

On June 22,2022, Andrew Gillum was indicted by the US Attorney's Office in the Northern District of Florida 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 Sharon Lettman-Hicks, one of his top advisors on his campaign, who then used the money to pay Andrew Gillum.

Also in 2012, Andrew Gillum was named as one of "50 Young Progressive Activists Who Are Changing America," by The Huffington Post.

On May 24,2009, Andrew Gillum married Rashada Jai Howard, a fellow FAMU graduate.

In March 2020, the Tallahassee Democrat reported that Andrew 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.

On March 16, Andrew Gillum stated that he would enter rehabilitation, citing struggles with alcohol and depression after narrowly losing the 2018 Florida gubernatorial race.

On September 14,2020, Andrew Gillum came out as bisexual in an interview with Tamron Hall on her nationally syndicated talk show.