MIAMI — Days after police say they found him in a South Beach hotel room with a collapsed companion and baggies of crystal meth, former Florida gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum announced plans Sunday night to enter rehab for alcohol abuse.
“After conversation with my family and deep reflection, I have made the decision to seek help, guidance and enter a rehabilitation facility at this time,” Gillum said in a statement. “I now need to firmly focus on myself and my family. I will be stepping down from all public facing roles for the foreseeable future.”
According to a Miami Beach police report, police responding to an overdose call at the South Beach Mondrian early Friday morning found Gillum in a hotel room with two other men and too inebriated to talk. Police said they found three bags of suspected crystal meth on the bed and on the floor.
Gillum, a Democrat who narrowly lost the 2018 race for Florida governor, was not arrested and was allowed to return back to his hotel in downtown Miami. He issued a statement Friday saying that he was in Miami to celebrate a wedding and had too much to drink. He said he has never used methamphetamine