Jason James Carter (born August 7, 1975) is an American lawyer and politician from the state of Georgia. Carter is a former state senator and was the Democratic nominee for governor of Georgia in the 2014 election. Carter's grandfather is former U.S. President and

Georgia Governor The governor of Georgia is the head of government of Georgia and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor also has a duty to enforce state laws, the power to either veto or approve bills passed by the Georgia Legi ...

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

Early life and career

Carter was born at

Emory University Hospital Emory University Hospital is a 733-bed facility in Atlanta, Georgia, specializing in the care of acutely ill adults. Emory University Hospital is staffed exclusively by Emory University School of Medicine faculty who also are members of The Emo ...

on August 7, 1975. A ninth-generation Georgian, he is a grandson of former President

and the son of Jack Carter and Judy Langford, daughter of former Georgia State Senator James Beverly Langford. After graduating from Evanston Township High School, where he won the Illinois State Policy Debate championship in 1993, Carter attended

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist Jam ...

, where he obtained a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

with a double major in

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. ...

and

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and ...

Peace Corps

After graduating from

, Carter served in the

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to provide international development assistance. It was established in March 1961 by an executive order of President John ...

stationed in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

. In doing so he followed the example of his great grand mother,

Lillian Carter Bessie Lillian Carter (née Gordy; August 15, 1898 – October 30, 1983) was the mother of the 39th president of the United States Jimmy Carter. She was also known for her contributions to nursing in her home state of Georgia and as a Peace Corps ...

(President Jimmy Carter's mother), who became a Peace Corps volunteer at age 68 and spent nearly two years in India working as a nurse with patients with leprosy. Jason Carter lived in Lochiel, South Africa, where he worked on education issues in rural areas. He learned to speak Zulu and Siswati. He wrote a book, titled ''Power Lines'', about his experiences there.

Legal career

Carter later attended the University of Georgia School of Law, graduating ''

summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

'' with a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice l ...

in 2004. He clerked for Frank M. Hull on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit after graduating from law school. He is currently a partner at the law firm of Bondurant, Mixson & Elmore in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

. He has represented the

National Football League Players Association The National Football League Players Association, or NFLPA, is a labor union representing National Football League (NFL) players. The NFLPA, which has headquarters in Washington, D.C., is led by president J. C. Tretter and executive director De ...

and won the Stuart Eizenstat Young Lawyer Award, given by the

Anti-Defamation League The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), formerly known as the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, is an international Jewish non-governmental organization based in the United States specializing in civil rights law. It was founded in late Septe ...

, for his

pro bono ( en, 'for the public good'), usually shortened to , is a Latin phrase for professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment. In the United States, the term typically refers to provision of legal services by legal professionals for pe ...

work defending voting rights.

Georgia Senate

2010 election

In a May 11, 2010 special election, Carter was elected to represent Georgia's 42nd district in the State Senate. He won with 65.6% of the vote. The seat had been vacated by David I. Adelman, who became the United States Ambassador to Singapore. Carter is the first member of his family to win elected office since his grandfather, Jimmy Carter, was elected

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal gove ...

. Carter was later re-elected to the Senate in the 2010 and 2012 general elections.

Legislation

In the Senate, Carter authored legislation to require the state budget to be presented in two parts: first, a separate education budget, and then a budget to fund the rest of state government. Carter also sponsored ethics reform legislation, including proposals to limit gifts from lobbyists to legislators, to create and fully fund an independent ethics commission, and to create a non-partisan redistricting commission. In 2012, he was awarded Common Cause's Democracy Award for his work on promoting ethics reform. In 2014, Carter voted for House Bill (H.B.) 60, the Safe Carry Protection Act which opponents nicknamed the "guns everywhere" bill.Live interview with Jason Carter (video)
''myfoxatlanta.com'', Atlanta, GA: Fox Television News, Inc., May 21, 2014, Retrieved May 25, 2014.Georgia law allows guns in some schools, bars, churches
''CNN.com'', Atlanta, GA: Cable News Network/Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., April 23, 2014, Sayers, D.M. & McLaughlin, E.C., Retrieved May 25, 2014. The Safe Carry Protection Act which took effect on July 1, 2014, permits licensed gun owners to carry guns into many public and private places.Georgia's sweeping gun law sparks religious backlash
''Time.com'', May 5, 2014, Sanburn, J., Retrieved May 25, 2014. The law is supported by the Georgia Baptist Convention which includes 3,600 Baptist churches in Georgia in favor of increased church autonomy, but is not supported by Catholic or Episcopalian church leaders.

Committee assignments

* Judiciary * Science and Technology * Special Judiciary * Transportation * Urban Affairs

2014 gubernatorial election

In 2013, Carter commissioned a poll of a potential race against Nathan Deal in the 2014 gubernatorial election. He subsequently announced that he would run for the Democratic nomination. During his campaign, Carter advocated increased investment in education and technical training to help grow Georgia's film and television industry. "Georgia has seen enormous growth in film and television production, but that success is threatened unless we build the skilled workforce to fill these jobs." Carter said, and added "After years of cuts to HOPE and to our schools, industries across the state simply cannot find the skilled workers they need to fill their jobs." Polls suggested a surprisingly close race given Georgia's recent electoral history. Real Clear Politics upgraded the race from "Leans GOP" to "Toss Up." Carter also out-raised the incumbent Deal in the second quarter. Carter said that people in Georgia have the right to have the Sons of Confederate Veterans-backed license plate, which features an image of the Confederate flag and that he would not try to stop them if elected. During his campaign, Carter reaffirmed his support for the legalization of

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

, stating, "Marriage equality is something I believe in and have elieved infor a very, very, very long time since before I got into politics." The candidate in a WSB-TV debate which aired live on

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...

criticized the performance of Deal in handling the state economy by stating that 380,000 Georgians were looking for jobs and state government support for public education had dropped. Carter lost his 2014 bid for the office of governor to incumbent Nathan Deal by 7.9%, receiving 44.9% of the vote.

Results

Personal life

Jason's wife, Kate, is a high school teacher, and former journalist with the '' Athens Banner-Herald'', where she won several awards. They have two sons, Henry (b. 2006) and Thomas (b. 2008).

Bibliography

References

External links

Jason Carter for Governor

Georgia State Senator Jason Carter

Fox News interview with Jason Carter (video)
* * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, Jason 1975 births 21st-century American lawyers 21st-century American politicians American expatriates in South Africa 21st-century American memoirists Candidates in the 2014 United States elections Carter family Duke University Trinity College of Arts and Sciences alumni Georgia (U.S. state) lawyers Democratic Party Georgia (U.S. state) state senators Living people Peace Corps volunteers People from Decatur, Georgia University of Georgia School of Law alumni Writers from Georgia (U.S. state)