state dems were worried about nominating him because of all the shit he had hanging over him as mayor of tallahassee.
he was already caught out there soliciting/accepting hamilton tickets from an influence peddler and was the subject of a state ethics investigation. that seems like small potatoes compared to all this.
there were 2 other safe dem 'establishment' options in the race. gillum ran as a bernie sanders acolyte progressive and capitalized on the other candidates splitting the moderate vote. then when he won the primary he ditched the progressive act and went back to the way he had been all along lol.