Andrew Demese Gillum (born July 26, 1979) is an American politician who has served as Mayor of Tallahassee, Florida, since 2014. He was the Democratic nominee for Governor of Florida in the 2018 election. He previously served on the Tallahassee City Commission from 2003 to 2014; first elected at the age of 23, he was the city's youngest commissioner. In 2018, Gillum became the Florida Democratic Party's nominee for Governor of Florida when he 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. He competed against Republican U.S. Representative Ron DeSantis in the general election. Gillum has been classified as a progressive, and is considered to be a politician in the mold of U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, the highest-ranking elected official to support his primary candidacy. Gillum ultimately lost the gubernatorial election to Donald Trump-backed Ron DeSantis. - Republican Rick Scott wins Florida Senate race, defeating incumbent Bill NelsonGillum was born in Miami and raised in Gainesville. 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. Gillum served as president of the FAMU Student Government Association from 2001–2002 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.
In April 2013, Andrew Gillum announced his intention to run for mayor of Tallahassee. Gillum ran against three opponents: Larry Hendricks, Zach Richardson, and write-in candidate Evin Matthews. In the August 26, 2014 nonpartisan primary, Gillum defeated Richardson and Hendricks; capturing 76 percent of the vote with 19,658 votes. On August 27, 2014, write-in candidate Evin Matthews withdrew from the race, resulting in Gillum becoming mayor-elect. Gillum announced his candidacy for governor in March 2017, and was the first to declare his intention to run as a Democrat. Gillum won the Democratic nomination for governor in an upset victory over the expected winner, former congresswoman Gwen Graham, 34–31%. Gillum is the first black nominee for governor of Florida. He will face Ron DeSantis in the general election.
The campaign was racially tinged, as DeSantis was accused of using the verb monkey as a racist dog whistle when DeSantis said, "The last thing we need to do is to monkey this up by trying to embrace a socialist agenda with huge tax increases and bankrupting the state. That is not going to work. That's not going to be good for Florida." During the campaign, President Donald Trump falsely accused Gillum of being a "thief", which some said was another racial dog whistle. On May 24, 2009, Gillum married Miss R. Jai Howard, a fellow FAMU graduate. The couple has three children: Caroline, Jackson, and Davis. - Republican Rick Scott wins Florida Senate race, defeating incumbent Bill Nelson
