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Buddy Carter
American politician (born 1957) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Earl LeRoy "Buddy" Carter (born September 6, 1957)[1] is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for Georgia's 1st congressional district since 2015. The district is based in Savannah and includes most of the state's coastal southern portion. A member of the Republican Party, Carter was elected to Congress after Jack Kingston decided to run for Senate.
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A vocal advocate of President Donald Trump, Carter aided and supported Trump's attempts to overturn the 2020 U.S. presidential election and has promoted Trump's false claims of a stolen election. He called for the results of the 2020 U.S. presidential election in Georgia to not be certified,[2][3] and was part of a group of Republican legislators who unsuccessfully challenged votes for Joe Biden during the 2021 United States Electoral College vote count, even though federal agencies and courts overseeing the election found no evidence of electoral fraud.[4]
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Early life and education
Carter graduated in 1975 from Robert W. Groves High School in Garden City, Georgia. He earned an associate degree from Young Harris College in 1977 and a Bachelor of Science in pharmacy from the University of Georgia in 1980.
Local politics and state legislature
Carter served on the planning and zoning commission for the city of Pooler from 1989 to 1993 and on Pooler's city council from 1994 to 1995. He served as Pooler's mayor from 1996 to 2004.
Carter served as a Georgia state representative (2005–2009) and Georgia state senator (2009–2014).[5][6] He sat on the Senate Appropriations, Health and Human Services, Higher Education, and Public Safety committees.[5]
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U.S. House of Representatives
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Elections
Carter gave up his state senate seat in 2014 to run for Congress after 22-year incumbent Jack Kingston announced he was running for the United States Senate. He finished first in the six-way Republican primary–the real contest in this heavily Republican district–with 36% of the vote, short of the 51% required for outright victory.[7] He then defeated Bob Johnson in the runoff with 53% of the vote.[8] In the general election, he defeated the Democratic nominee, Brian Reese, with 60.9% of the vote, carrying all but two counties in the district.[9] In 2016, he was unopposed in both the primary and general elections, and received over 99% of the vote against a write-in candidate.[10][11]
Carter was reelected in 2018, 2020, and 2022.[12]
Committee assignments
For the 119th Congress:[13]
Caucus memberships
U.S. Senate campaign
Carter has announced his candidacy in the Republican primary for the 2026 United States Senate election in Georgia. In his campaign announcement, Carter cited securing the border and ending transgender athletes' participation in school sports as priorities, criticizing incumbent Democrat Jon Ossoff's approach to these issues.[21]
Political positions
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2020 presidential election
In December 2020, Carter was one of 126 Republican members of the House of Representatives to sign an amicus brief in support of Texas v. Pennsylvania (2020), a lawsuit filed at the United States Supreme Court contesting the results of the 2020 presidential election, in which Joe Biden defeated[22] Trump. The Supreme Court declined to hear the case on the basis that Texas lacked standing under Article III of the Constitution to challenge the results of an election held by another state.[23][24][25]
On January 6, 2021, in a vote held after protestors stormed the U.S. Capitol, Carter voted against certifying the 2020 presidential election results in which Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump.[26]
Abortion
Carter supported the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which overruled Roe v. Wade. He believes abortion laws should be made by individual states.[27]
Agriculture
In 2023, Carter was among 16 House Republicans who signed a letter to the House Agriculture Committee opposing the inclusion of the Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression (EATS) Act in the 2023 farm bill. The EATS Act would have invalidated certain state and local laws regulating agricultural products sold across state lines, including farm animal welfare laws like California's Proposition 12, which requires that pork, egg, and veal products sold within the state adhere to minimum animal space requirements. The letter argued that the legislation would infringe on states' rights and harm U.S. national security by unfairly advantaging the Chinese-owned pork producer WH Group and its subsidiary Smithfield Foods.[28]
Drug policy
In 2017, Carter renewed his push to drug-test people who receive unemployment insurance.[29]
On April 1, 2022, Carter voted against the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act, which would have decriminalized cannabis at the federal level, allowing states to set their own policies.[30][31]
Foreign relations
Carter voted to provide Israel with support following 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.[32][33]
Gun policy
Carter is a supporter of gun rights, and has an "A" rating from the NRA Political Victory Fund for his stances on gun issues.[34]
In February 2018, during a town hall in Hinesville, when asked about mass shootings in America, Carter told attendees to not look to Congress for answers about gun violence, saying Congress is not responsible for gun violence in America.[35]
Health care
Carter supports the repeal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).[36]
On July 26, 2017, Carter was asked during a live television interview if he supported Trump's criticism of U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski for her opposition to the procedural vote to begin the Senate's healthcare debate. Carter said he did, adding, "Somebody needs to go over there to that Senate and snatch a knot in their ass."[37] The incident prompted widespread media coverage.[38][39][40]
Immigration
Carter co-sponsored a bill that would let illegal immigrants serve in the U.S. military in exchange for legal residency.[41]
Carter supported Trump's 2017 executive order to temporarily curtail immigration from seven countries until better screening methods are devised. He said, "While I believe there needs to be thoughtful clarifications on the executive actions similar to Secretary Kelly’s announcement about lawful permanent residents, the number one priority of the federal government is to provide for the common defense."[42]
Carter wants to prohibit all federal funding from sanctuary cities in Georgia (sanctuary cities prohibit city officials from asking about a person's immigration status when they report an unrelated crime).[43] He also said he would like to test the huge backlog of rape kits in Georgia, except in sanctuary cities.[44]
Carter spearheaded efforts to expand privatized immigrant detention and processing in Georgia, coordinating with Charlton County and the D. Ray James Correctional Facility.[45]
LGBT rights
In 2017, Carter said he supported a ban on transgender people serving in the military.[46][47]
Tax policy
Carter voted for the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017,[48] saying he believed it would make businesses in his district more competitive in a global market. He also said it would help his constituents earn and/or save more money.[49] Carter is a sponsor of "H.R.25 The FairTax Act of 2023" which would abolish the current US tax structure and replace it with a yearly adjustable variable "national sales tax" (value-added tax) starting at 23% in 2025 to be administered by the states and remitted to the Treasury of the United States.[50]
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Personal life
Carter and his wife, Amy, have three adult sons.[51]
Carter is a Methodist.[52] He is not related to late former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, who was also from Georgia.[53]
Carter was conferred the honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree by Young Harris College at its 2024 commencement ceremony.[54]
Electoral history
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References
External links
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