Topic: Ron Sims

Ronald Cordell Sims, born July 5, 1948, is currently the Deputy Secretary of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, having been confirmed by the Senate on May 6, 2009 and sworn in on May 8th. He is also the former King County Executive. He has run unsuccessfully for higher office twice: United States Senator in 1994 and Governor of Washington in 2004.

Sims was born in Spokane, Washington, to Reverend James C. Sims Sr. and Lydia T. Sims. He graduated from Lewis and Clark High School and attended Central Washington University in Ellensburg, where he earned a B.A. in psychology. Between graduation and his election to the King County Council he worked in the office of the Washington State Attorney General, for the Federal Trade Commission, for the juvenile offenders program of the city of Seattle, and as an aide in the state senate. He is an ordained Baptist minister.

In 1985, Sims was first elected to the King County Council and was subsequently re-elected two more times, 1989 and 1993. During his first term, he and fellow Councilman Bruce Laing successfully led a campaign to have the county rededicate its name in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. (this change was not officially recognized by the state until July 25, 2005).