Carlos Adams touts local roots, business background in Yuma mayoral race

Yuma voters will decide on July 21 whether to keep Doug Nicholls for another term or back write-in challenger Carlos Adams, a businessman who says City Hall needs to hear residents more clearly. Adams is presenting himself as a candidate shaped by Yuma rather than politics, and he is leaning hard on local roots, family life and a message built around transparency, opportunity and community.

Adams was born in San Diego but grew up in Yuma, where he said he helped his parents at their Mexican crafts store in Southgate Mall and attended McGraw Elementary and O.C. Johnson School. He later founded Adams Boxing in 2015 after spotting a need for better performance footwear, then redesigned boxing shoes and expanded sales to fighters in seven countries. His business now runs as AdamsFootwear USA out of 340 West 32nd Street, Suite 110, where it sells boxing shoes and related gear, including custom boxing gear and made-in-Mexico products.

That business background is central to Adams’ pitch against Nicholls, who has served as Yuma mayor since 2014 and is the city’s 27th mayor. Adams said he was pushed toward the race after a community census and months of watching council meetings, including conversations with about 1,400 residents that left him convinced many people feel disconnected from City Hall. He has said Yuma is not the same city it was when Nicholls first took office because the population has grown and expectations have changed.

Adams has also tried to place himself inside one of the city’s most visible growth debates: proposed artificial intelligence data centers. Yuma residents and activists have already protested and debated the idea, while city and county officials have said there are no data-center proposals before the council. Adams has said any future proposal would need to prove safety, security, broad economic benefit and public review before he would support it, putting permitting and large-scale development squarely into the campaign conversation.

The race has also been shaped by Adams’ family image and his promise of a different style of leadership. He said his three children are part of the campaign rhythm and that the time demands of the mayor’s job are one reason he has taken the race seriously. At a June 4 forum at the Onvida Health administrative center conference room, hosted by the Yuma County Chamber of Commerce and co-moderated by KAWC and the Yuma Sun, Adams walked through a 100-day plan and emphasized youth programs and redevelopment. With the city continuing annual strategic-planning retreats and reaffirming its vision statement and five strategic outcomes in March 2025, Adams is asking voters to choose whether Yuma should keep moving in the same direction or shift toward a more aggressive, more direct approach to City Hall.