In 2020, Sims, an openly gay policy wonk, Episcopalian, accountant for an employers insurance company in Reno and a frequent volunteer for the unhoused in northern Nevada, lost a race for Carson City’s mayoral position. That didn’t deter him from trying again during this current election cycle, although at times he wasn’t sure what elected position he should go for.
Sims initially launched a campaign for Congress, but then as the puzzle for 2022 became clearer, he decided Nevada’s 16th district for Senate was a better race for him.
The district now incorporates all of Carson City, Storey County, Washoe Valley and south Reno, as well as USA Parkway to the east and Verdi to the west. “It is a little bit wonky,” he told Our Town Reno during a recent interview in our podcast studios, “but it's almost like a multi-prong star in a way.”
The seat is currently held by Republican Don Tatro, who was handpicked by Washoe County and Carson City officials to replace Ben Kieckhefer, after his resignation in October. Tatro who initially said he wouldn’t run is now a candidate to keep the seat on the Republican side.
Sims who grew up in a conservative household and was previously a part of the Republican Party has shifted his views economically, and feels the GOP has become too extreme in recent years.
He now describes himself as a progressive within American mainstream politics.
“It is true that my platform is overall very progressive, but I believe it is also a kind of platform that reaches out to moderate Democrats that reaches out to centrists that also reaches out to certain disaffected Republicans as well,” he said during our interview. “These are issues that we all agree on. We agree that there's a housing crisis. We agree that something needs to be done to correct our education. And we agree that our healthcare currently sucks for lack of a better term. So I believe that as a progressive of course you can win because if you focus on running on those specific issues and kind of get away from just the labels and the silliness of it all, you absolutely have a chance of winning.”
Sims believes the state senator’s responsibility is important, but he wants Nevada’s state legislature to start working full time. “I think Nevada's big enough now,” he said. “With as many problems that we're facing today versus 150 years ago, I really do think that we need to work towards having a full-time legislature that can be there and that could, you know, make laws and also amend laws and make good changes for the people in Nevada.”
His own priority would be housing and addressing the “massive housing crisis here,” which he says began about seven years ago. “For many people, both rent and property have just skyrocketed, 250, 300% … just insane. I want to work on legislation that helps alleviate renters costs, also helping to alleviate homeowners or new perspective home buyers who want to buy a house, but, you know, maybe can't afford it in this current market,” he said.
Sims wants to introduce a housing first approach to helping the unhoused. “You know, traditionally we think that a person must graduate high school, graduate college, then get a job, then eventually get into a home of their own. Now that just doesn't work. So I want to, I want to change that narrative and I want it to be to where people are put into a home first and foremost. And if all people are housed, think about homelessness. For example, if all of those people are housed, then they would have access to a shower daily. They would have a safe place to keep their items. They would be able to sleep and have a full night's rest and not be bothered by anyone else. Then they can be productive members of society. They can get a good job, they can get an education, and so on and so forth.”
To those skeptical this could work or be paid for, he says he would start small with incentives for rental management companies, so that they would allocate parts of their availabilities to a housing first plan. He also envisions using foreclosed homes to also house the unhoused.
Education, including reducing class sizes, and pushing for health care as a human right would be other priorities. “It doesn't make sense to me to live in the richest nation in the world and … not offer a centralized healthcare plan,” he said. “So since the federal government has failed to do it, it's now the state's responsibility to come up with something. And I'd like to see an alternative either by expanding the Nevada health exchange or by creating a health insurance for the state of Nevada over time, you know, implement that, so that Nevadans will always be insured no matter what.”
Sims recognizes the 16th district will be hard to win for a Democrat, but remains optimistic. “We know that the key to winning this race is by winning over nonpartisans. And we do have a very strong ground campaign already set up and established and put into place for the general election that we'll be hitting every door.”
He says he learned from his mayoral run in Carson City which is a smaller sample size of the entire district. He said he also understands all too well that in the current climate of hateful politics he does face personal risks.
“The amount of non-mainstream far right, radical people who are getting involved in this election, it's very concerning,” he said of 2022. “You know, we're not talking about typical voters. We're talking about people who are part of militias. We're talking about people who are violent and have violent histories, people who want even ethnic genocide, in some cases, these are people who are getting involved in this election more than before.”
Sims says this extremism offers an opportunity for a reset though, what he calls being on “a precipice of change.” He speaks of the potential for “long term substantial change, social change, where people are realizing that things like criminal justice reform needs to happen, that maybe we've been too harsh on people, maybe having a system of punitive justice isn’t as good as understanding that certain people might need rehab or might need mental health. We're waking up to understand that healthcare is a human right, and that all people deserve it regardless. We're waking up and realizing that housing should be a human right. And all people deserve some kind of a home if they want to survive in this world. I think that having more progressive candidates or having more candidates as a whole, who understand these issues will create a more gentler world, at least in our state and in our country.”