She was appointed to the North Carolina House District 26 seat in 1994 to replace Herman Gist, who died in office. The district is in Guilford County and includes most of southeastern Greensboro. She had previously said she was going to challenge Gist for that seat in the Democratic primary that year. After being appointed to the seat, Adams faced conservative businessman and retired engineer O. C. Stafford in the Democratic primary. Adams won the primary election.