Several of the calls, though, were not from the throng of volunteers and well-wishers who helped her defeat former Rep. John White in the Democratic primary Tuesday to claim the District 12 Senate seat being vacated by Michael Meyer von Bremen.
“I’ve already talked with (Senate President Pro Tem) Eric Johnson (R-Savannah), with Lt. Gov. (Casey) Cagle and some of the other Senate leaders,” Sims said. “They’ve expressed a willingness to help me, and that’s something I truly appreciate.
“But my first thought (after the election) is to connect with the voters in the district. Sure, I have to go to Atlanta to do this job, but the first thing is to talk with voters and see what their concerns are. And it’s a different kind of conversation now; now I ask them what do you expect from your Senator?”
The vote count went on into the night before Sims was declared official winner of the District 12 Senate seat Meyer von Bremen vacated for a run at the Georgia Court of Appeals. By noon Wednesday, Secretary of State Karen Handel’s office released figures showing that with 98 percent of the precincts in the district reporting (all but one each in Calhoun and Mitchell counties), Sims had received 12,682 votes to White’s 9,995.
Sims, who had served the past four years as House District 151 representative, got her biggest boost in Dougherty County, where she outpolled White 9,142-6,555. She also received more votes in Terrell (965-696), Randolph (428-346) and Clay (192-163) counties.
White, who had served 22 years in the state House, outpolled Sims in Baker (488-415), Calhoun (627-557), Mitchell (776-751) and Quitman (344-232) counties.
“As soon as I made the announcement to run for this seat, I started reaching out to the voters in the region as well as in Dougherty County,” Sims said. “I spent a lot of time in the district, did as much as I could to get to know people. I got a lot of help in the area, from folks like Reps. Gerald Greene (D, Cuthbert) and Bob Hanner (D-Parrott) and Richard Royal (R-Camilla). Because these people were my colleagues (in the House), their help meant even more.
“But local folks like (city commissioner) Jon Howard and other supporters really helped me through this campaign, and their help meant so much.”
Now, Sims said, she will take a short period off before getting down to the work of preparing to serve as Senator.
“I’ll look at things I can do to help our people,” she said. “And I think it’s important to take a regional approach. It can’t be what’s best for Terrell County or Randolph County or Quitman County; it’s got to be what’s best for Southwest Georgia. The legislators in Atlanta do a great job of taking a regional approach, and we have to do that. We have to quit being territorial.
“I’d be lying if I said (winning the election) didn’t feel good. But this is not my seat alone. And I promise that’s not just political rhetoric. It’s hard to explain, but there are so many good people in this region, and I want to help make good things happen for them. We have, I think, the best resources of any region of the state; now we’ve got to start learning to think on a grander scale.”