Sims spent the last months of the Trump administration working in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, where he served as deputy director of former director John Ratcliffe. Ratcliffe indicated in a statement that he would lend his support to a Sims application.
“Cliff has a servant’s heart and if he decides to run, I’m sure no one would fight for the people of Alabama anymore,” said Ratcliffe, a former Texas congressman.
Sims is one of several former Trump administration officials, donors and supporters now seen as potential candidates across the state. Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, has been mentioned as a potential candidate in the North Carolina Senate race, while former Navy secretary Kenneth Braithwaite is looking for a Senate nomination in Pennsylvania, where the former ambassador in Denmark Carla Sands is also a possible candidate.
Former Ambassador to Slovenia Lynda Blanchard, a Montgomery native and co-founder of a wealthy real estate investment company, is also considering running for the Alabama chair.
Former Trump White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders has already launched a campaign for Arkansas governor.
The announcement of Shelby’s retirement sparked a race for all potential Republicans for their Senate seat. In addition to Blanchard, the list of potential candidates includes Republican Representative Mo Brooks, State Senate President Pro Tempore Del Marsh and Shelby’s former chief of staff, Katie Britt.
Sims, a native Alabama native who lives in Birmingham, currently runs an advertising agency called Telegraph Creative. Since Shelby’s announcement, Sims has been publicized by former Trump administration officials and Alabama Republicans about whether to run.
The former Trump adviser left the White House in 2018 after working in the communications office, where he served as the president’s special assistant. In 2019, Sims published “Team of Vipers”, a best-selling memoir that documented their experiences at the White House and detailed the team’s internal fights.
Trump attacked the book after its release, describing the Sims as a “low-ranking official” and a “servant” he “barely knew”, although the cover of the 360-page memoir portrayed the former president and the Sims walking through the West Wing Colonnade.
But Sims would come back later. Trump family members fixed things between the former president and his former aide. During the summer of 2020, Sims worked as a speechwriter for the Republican National Convention and returned to the Trump administration working under Ratcliffe last year.