YUMA, Ariz. — “I encourage you to support and vote for Mayor Douglass Nicholls for mayor,” said Pastor and community leader Tyron P. Jones, voicing a grassroots show of faith in the incumbent’s bid for another term.
Challenging Nicholls is Carlos Adams, raised in Yuma after being born in San Diego, said he grew up working in his parents’ Mexican crafts store at the Southgate Mall and attended McGraw Elementary and O.C. Johnson schools.
Adams, who met with a reporter at Kneaders on 16th Street, said his transition from fighter to businessman began after he identified a need for better performance footwear. He founded Adams Boxing in 2015, redesigning boxing shoes and expanding sales to fighters in seven countries.
Politics was not his original plan, he said, but a community census changed that. Adams said door to door conversations with about 1,400 residents revealed a disconnect between City Hall and the public and prompted his mayoral run.
“I went to all the council meetings for the last four months and there’s a lot of things in the agenda that even the councilmembers themselves don’t fully understand,” Adams said.
He framed his campaign around three pillars; transparency, opportunity and community and urged voters to back a new generation of leadership. “The city is not the same city it was when [Nicholls] came into office,” Adams said. “When he came into office Yuma was known for older people. Now the median here is mid‑30s. We’re a whole new generation.”
On the contentious prospect of AI data centers near Yuma, Adams said he is “open but cautious.” He said any proposal must demonstrate safety, security and broad economic benefit, provide testing and studies for public review and pass public hearings before he would support it.
Outside politics, Adams said he is a father of three, and that the campaign is part of family life. “They think that if I become the mayor I won’t have time for them,” he said.
The race sets a clear contrast: an incumbent with established community endorsements and a challenger pressing for change. The outcome remains uncertain as Adams continues to knock on doors and court support for his vision of Yuma’s next chapter.
