2017 campaign

Carter was inspired to run for office after receiving a shock while repairing a lighting system in the summer of 2015 and subsequently struggling to receive worker's compensation from Virginia while unable to work. Before choosing to run, he had long identified as "to the left of where the Democratic party [is]" but was further inspired by Bernie Sanders to explore democratic socialism.^[11]

Carter ran for the Virginia House of Delegates for the 50th district. He was endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), of which he has been a member since April 2017.^[11][12] His campaign mostly focused on issues such as single-payer healthcare and financial contributions to politicians. Jackson Miller, the incumbent Republican, distributed a mailer campaign that compared Carter to Communist rulers Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, and Mao Zedong,^[11][13][14] an act the Democratic Party of Virginia condemned as fearmongering.^[14] Miller called Carter an "anti-jobs candidate", and said his "ideas are so out of the mainstream, and so incredibly expensive".^[15] During the campaign, Carter claimed he had little support from the state's Democratic Party, saying their resources were "stretched thin" but that the DSA had "managed to knock on thousands of doors" on his behalf.^[16] On November 7, 2017, Carter won the race by nine percentage points.^[17] He was one of 15 DSA members elected in 2017.^[18]

2019 campaign

Carter ran for reelection in the 2019 election, defeating his primary opponent, Manassas city councilman Mark Wolfe, by 57.7% to 42.3% of the vote.^[19]

In the general election, Carter defeated Republican Ian Lovejoy, another Manassas city councilman, by 53.3% to 46.5% of the vote.^[20] Carter was endorsed by U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, who campaigned with Carter in Manassas the day before the election.^[21]

2021 campaigns

On January 1, 2021, Carter announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for governor of Virginia.^[22] He also ran for renomination as delegate but had two challengers. Carter lost both the gubernatorial primary and the Democratic primary for delegate, the latter of which was won by attorney Michelle Lopes-Maldonado.^[3] After the losses, he announced his retirement from electoral politics and endorsed the Independent candidate Princess Blanding for governor.^[23][24]

Tenure

During Carter's remarks on a tax bill during the 2018 legislative session, fellow Democratic Delegate Mark Keam briefly displayed the hammer and sickle on a laptop behind Carter, an action for which he later apologized;^[25][26][27] Keam also apologized for violating Rule 57 in regard to the legislative body's decorum ("No member shall in debate use any language or gesture calculated to wound, offend, or insult another member").^[28] Carter dismissed the affair as "clearly ... a joke, but ... in very poor taste and rooted in a lack of knowledge about the history of the political left."^[26]

Capital punishment

Carter opposes the death penalty under all circumstances, and introduced a bill in the House of Delegates to abolish it in Virginia.^[29]

Criminal justice reform

Carter introduced legislation in the 2020 session that would prohibit Virginia prisons and jails from strip-searching minors before visitation. The bill passed unanimously in subcommittee.^[30]

Guns

Carter supports the right to keep and bear arms, and has opposed proposed assault weapons bans in Virginia as a "terrible idea".^[31][32] He opposes red flag laws, since he believes they result in right-wing extremists abusing the process to disarm their opposition, and has voted against prohibiting guns on the property of the Virginia State Capitol, the only Democrat to do so.^[33][34]

Healthcare

Carter introduced legislation in the 2020 session that would cap the monthly copay for insulin at $30.^[35] The bill passed and was signed into law at a $50 monthly copay cap.^[36]

Education

Carter was the only Democrat to vote against a bipartisan bill in 2021 to require schools to provide at least three specialized student support positions. The bill passed and was signed by Governor Ralph Northam.^[33]

Labor

Since taking office, Carter has been an outspoken advocate for workers' rights.^[40] In December 2018 he introduced House Bill 1806, which would overturn Virginia's 70-year-old right-to-work law. Of the bill, Carter said, "When workers form a union, everyone in the workplace benefits from higher wages and better conditions. ... Taft–Hartley was created specifically to allow some people to stand opposed to their coworkers' union while still reaping the rewards for free. It was intentionally designed to bankrupt unions, and I'm fighting to end it."^[41][42]

In late 2019, after Carter introduced or supported bills overturning restrictions on the ability of Virginia state employees to strike, he received a wave of death threats on social media, as critics mistook the exception of police officers from the bills for a case of their right to strike being removed.^[43] These threats were severe and credible enough that Carter spent the day at an undisclosed safe location on January 20, 2020, the day a gun rights rally was organized at the Virginia State Capitol. This coincided with the declaration of a state of emergency by Northam in response to potential violence at the rally.^[44]

In the 2020 session, Carter introduced a bill to address pay disparities for certain categories of workers. One bill would prevent employers from categorizing employees as "tipped employees" if state or federal regulations prohibit those employees from accepting tips. This bill targeted workers at Dulles International Airport and Reagan National Airport, who are classified as tipped employees and are ineligible from receiving minimum wage even though they are prohibited from receiving tips.^[30]

2020 presidential election

Carter endorsed Bernie Sanders for president in 2020, and co-chaired his Virginia campaign.^[45]