Gary Michael Carter Jr. (born November 1974) is an American attorney and politician serving as the Democratic member of the

Louisiana Senate The Louisiana State Senate (; ) is the upper house of Louisiana’s legislature. Senators serve four-year terms and participate in various committees. Composition The Louisiana State Senate has 39 members elected from single-member districts ...

for the 7th district. He previously served in the

Louisiana House of Representatives The Louisiana House of Representatives (; ) is the lower house in the Louisiana State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. This chamber is composed of 105 representatives, each of whom represents approximately 4 ...

representing the 102nd district, which encompasses the

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

neighborhood.

Early life and education

Carter was born in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

. A graduate of

Archbishop Shaw High School Archbishop Shaw High School is an archdiocesan school administered under the Salesians of Don Bosco. It is approved by the Louisiana State Department of Education and the Southern Association of Secondary Schools and Colleges. Founded in 1962, i ...

and

Xavier University Xavier University ( ) is a private Jesuit university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It is the sixth-oldest Catholic and fourth-oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Xavier had an enrollment of approximately 5,600 undergraduate an ...

, Carter earned his J.D. degree from

Tulane University Law School The Tulane University School of Law is the law school of Tulane University. It is located on Tulane's Uptown campus in New Orleans, Louisiana. Established in 1847, it is the 12th oldest law school in the United States. Campus The law schoo ...

, all in New Orleans.

Career

Carter is a partner at the firm, Kelly Hart & Pitre. On January 11, 2016, he succeeded fellow Democrat Jeff Arnold in the

. Arnold was ineligible to seek a fourth four-year term in the legislative primary held on October 24, 2015. In the primary, Carter polled 4,914 votes (57 percent) of the ballots cast against five fellow Democrats. Carter said that as a state representative, he would emphasize an economic plan to establish more jobs and invest in education to "break the long-term cycle of crime in our city." In June 2021, Carter was elected to the

in a special election to succeed his uncle Troy Carter, who had been elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. In

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

, Gary Carter Jr. was re-elected to his position as a member of the Louisiana State Senate, representing District 7. He ran unopposed, securing another term in office.

Personal life

He is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

. His uncle is Troy Carter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, Gary Jr.) 1974 births Living people Politicians from New Orleans Lawyers from New Orleans Democratic Party members of the Louisiana House of Representatives 21st-century members of the Louisiana State Legislature Archbishop Shaw High School alumni Xavier University of Louisiana alumni Tulane University Law School alumni African-American state legislators in Louisiana 21st-century African-American politicians