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 " but was further inspired by Bernie Sanders to explore democratic socialism. Carter ran for the Virginia House of Delegates for the 50th district. He was endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America, of which he has been a member since April, 2017. 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, an act the Democratic Party of Virginia condemned as fearmongering. Miller called Carter an "anti-jobs candidate" and said his "ideas are so out of the mainstream, and so incredibly expensive". On November 7, 2017, Carter won the race by nine percentage points. He was one of 15 DSA members elected in 2017. During Carter's remarks on a tax bill, fellow Democratic Delegate Mark Keam surreptitiously briefly displayed the hammer and sickle on a laptop behind Carter, an action for which he later apologized; Keam also apologized for violating Rule 57 in regard to the legislative body's decorum. 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."
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. In the general election, Carter defeated Republican Ian Lovejoy, another Manassas city councilman, by 53.3% to 46.5% of the vote. Carter was endorsed by U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, who campaigned with Carter in Manassas the day before the election.
Political positions
Labor
Since taking office, Carter has been an outspoken advocate for workers' rights. 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." 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. 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 governor Ralph Northam in response to potential violence at the rally. 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.
Healthcare
Carter introduced legislation in the 2020 session that would cap the monthly copay for insulin at $30.. The bill passed and was signed into law at a $50 monthly copay cap.
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.
2020 presidential election
Carter endorsed Bernie Sanders for president in 2020, and co-chaired his Virginia campaign.
Personal life
Carter has been married and divorced three times. He has a daughter with his second wife. According to Carter, his third wife physically and emotionally abused him, which resulted in police involvement and an emergency protective order. He has also alluded to being abused earlier in his life. In October 2018, to get ahead of any potential attempts at "personal smears", Carter admitted making "homophobic, transphobic, sometimes sexist or racially insensitive" comments online as a teenager.
