Yuma mayoral write-in candidate Carlos Adams urges voters to spell his name

Carlos Adams is asking Yuma voters to remember one detail before they mark a ballot in the city’s mayoral primary: his name will not be printed there. If residents want to support the write-in candidate, they must write Carlos Adams in by hand, a hurdle that makes his campaign as much about voter education as about politics.

That challenge lands as Yuma moves into a packed election calendar. The city’s primary election is set for July 21, 2026, and early voting and early ballots were scheduled to begin June 24, just as the campaign entered the stretch when many voters start making decisions. The last day to register for the primary was June 22, which means Adams’ effort to explain the write-in process is unfolding while ballots are already about to go out.

The City of Yuma’s election page lists only two mayoral options for the primary: incumbent Douglas Nicholls and Carlos Adams as a write-in candidate. The same municipal election materials show that Yuma will also elect three city council members and a presiding municipal judge in 2026, but the mayor’s race is where the write-in complication stands out. Nicholls has served as mayor since 2014 and was re-elected to a third term beginning in January 2023.

Adams, 33, was born in San Diego and raised in Yuma, according to KAWC. He grew up working in his parents’ Mexican crafts store at Southgate Mall, later built businesses of his own and now owns Adams Footwear and Adams Boxing. He launched his campaign in April and has spent months going door to door while arguing that Yuma needs new blood and new ideas.

That pitch includes more youth programs and redevelopment, which Adams has made part of his case for change in a city where local leadership shapes everything from neighborhood services to broader planning decisions. But the mechanics of a write-in run may matter just as much as the message. Adams does not have the visibility that comes with a printed ballot line, so every voter who supports him has to know both that he is in the race and how to cast that vote correctly.

The general election is set for November 3, 2026, but the immediate test comes with the primary. For Adams, the campaign now hinges on whether Yuma voters remember to look past the printed names and write his in instead.