William P. Sims

W.P. Sims (William Prescott Sims^[1][2]) was a politician and dentist from Arizona. He served in Arizona State Senate in the 1st, 2nd, and 5th - 7th State Legislatures.^{[3][4][5][6][7]} He served as the President of the Senate during the 2nd Legislature.^[8]

Life

Sims was born in Tennessee in 1875. He was a graduate of

In 1910, Sims was elected the vice-president of the Arizona Dental Association,[23] and in 1912 he became the association's president.^[24] In 1913, due his duties in the state senate, Sims resigned from the Dental Board of Examiners.^[25] After leaving the State Senate, Sims was once again appointed to the Dental Board.^[26]

In 1918, he was one of twenty-one executives of the mining industry arrested as the result of a federal grand jury, as part of the

On New Year's Eve 1920, in an ironic twist, Sims' Ford roadster was stolen while he was giving a speech on law enforcement.[33] Sims retired from dentistry in 1922, selling his practice to his partner, W. J. Johnson.^[34] In 1926, the Sims moved from Bisbee to Phoenix.^[35]

Sims was also part owner of the Bowen-Sims Auto Company, which was the Studebaker distributor in Arizona. He and his partner, John Bowen, purchased the company located in Tucson in June 1926.^[36] He divested himself from the company in 1929.^[37] His portion of the company was purchased by A. W. Maxwell, who was a well-known Studebaker dealer in Los. Subsequent to the sale, the company was renamed, "Bowen-Maxwell".^[38] However, after selling his share in the company, Sims was hired as the president of the organization.^[39]

His wife, Mary, died on April 27, 1948, from a stroke at the age of 75. She had been attending a luncheon at the YWCA, where she had been a past president, when she suffered the stroke. She was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital, where she died two hours later.^[35][40]

Sims died at his home after a long illness on April 17, 1951. He was 76.^[2]

Political career

In September 2011 Sims announced that he would be running for the State Senate as one of two seats in

Sims did not run for re-election in 1916, although both Riggs and Roberts did. A newcomer, Fred Sutter received the most votes in the primary, while Roberts came in second.^[53] While out of the senate, Sims served on the Arizona Corporate Commission.^[54]

Sims did not run again in 1918, but once again threw in his hat for Arizona State Senator in the 1920 election, even though he was still embroiled in the I.W.W. trial.^[55][56] He stated that his reason for once again entering politics was the new law on how legislators were compensated, changing fronm a per diem to a straight salary, as he felt the old system lent itself to some people prolonging legislative sessions simply to receive more remuneration.^[57] He was one of the two Democrat candidates who topped the primary, enabling him to run in the November election.^[58] In November he was re-elected to his third term in the State Senate.^[59]

In August 1922 Sims announced his intention to run for re-election. He was joined by former state senators Roberts, T. A. Hughes, and John P. Cull, as well as political newcomer William Delbridge.^[60] Once again, Roberts and Sims won the Democrat primary,^[61] and both won by large majorities in the general election in November.^[62] When the 6th Legislature met in January, Sims was considered one of the front runners for Senate President. However, when the Democrats caucused on January 8, 1923, they chose Mulford Winsor for president.^[63][64] In August 1924 Sims announced his intention to run for re-election.^[65] Sims won re-election, and with newcomer J. B. Wylie, became the two senators from Cochise County.^[66] In August 1926 Sims once again filed his intention to run for re-election to the state senate, along with Wylie. However, he was defeated in the primary when Wylie and Fred Sutter were the top two vote getters.^[67][68]

After taking several years off from politics, Sims announced his intention to run once again for the state legislature in 1930, but this time for the House, and from

Sims was a supporter of prohibition.^[73]

References