As in legislative sessions past, The Nevada Independent is publishing a series of profiles featuring the new lawmakers in the state. This is the 11th installment of more than a dozen. Check back in coming days for additional stories on new legislators' backgrounds, interests and policy positions.

• Freshman Democrat born in Las Vegas succeeds Democratic Assemblywoman Susie Martinez, who did not seek re-election after she was elected executive secretary-treasurer of the Nevada AFL-CIO in August 2021.
• Represents District 12, which includes the eastern side of the Las Vegas Valley, including the Sunrise Manor neighborhood and Lake Las Vegas.
• District 12 leans Democratic (38 percent of active voters were registered Democratic, 25 percent were registered Republican, 31 percent were registered nonpartisan and 6 percent were registered with other parties in the 2022 election).
• Carter defeated two other candidates, Abraham Camejo and Angelo Casino, in the 2022 Democratic primary with 53 percent of the vote.
• He then narrowly defeated Republican Flemming Larsen in the general election, winning 51 percent of the vote.
• The retired electrician sits on three committees: Government Affairs, Commerce and Labor, and Growth and Infrastructure.

Family and education

Carter, 58, has roots in Las Vegas reaching back three generations to his “railroad pioneer” grandfather in 1942.

He grew up near downtown Las Vegas on the east side, where he lives today. He graduated from Las Vegas High School in 1982.

“I got into the stagehands union and it was because of the theater at the old Vegas high school,” Carter said.

He said there was a moment when many of his colleagues of the same socioeconomic status began relocating to the suburbs while he and his late wife found it important to stay in their home not far from downtown on Eastern Avenue and Oakey Boulevard.

Carter said they wanted to raise their three sons in a diverse community. He said they hoped it would help their children grow into “well-rounded citizens” by living in a neighborhood with different-sized houses and apartments and in which everybody doesn’t “look like [them] in the mirror.”

“My wife and I chose to stay downtown … because of its multicultural tenor,” he said. “And I didn't want my sons to grow up with the implicit bias you see so often.”

He said he and his wife passed on a sense of service to their children. Two of his sons are teachers at Title I schools serving lower-income populations and the youngest is a staff sergeant on active duty serving in the U.S. Army. 

Carter said they “worked hard raising young men, rather than children.”

“We didn’t tell them ‘you need to do this,’” he said. “We did it [first] and then included them.”

Career 

The last 15 years of Carter’s career focused on negotiating union contracts for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers or IBEW Local 357. 

He said he worked on contracts that ensured large-scale solar projects were built with local laborers instead of people from out of state.

“I worked very hard at that,” Carter said. “And so I bring those ethics to the table.”

He was a trustee for 20 years on his union’s health plan and for 10 of those years he was the chairman and negotiated health care contracts. As chairman, he helped the union establish its own primary care clinics staffed by doctors. 

Carter said he’s been immersed in dealing with benefits packages, pension plans and how they are funded for more than 20 years after retiring as an electrician. 

“I know what it's like to work with your hands — to be a working man,” he said. “That’s all I did my whole life.”

Profile

Feb. 6, the day legislators were sworn in, was the six-year anniversary of Carter's wife’s death. 

Both lovers of horses, they gained ownership of two horses in 2017 and on Feb. 5 that year, his wife was thrown into the street during a normal day's ride. She died the next day with Carter at her side at the hospital while their friends and colleagues checked in from Carson City during that year’s swearing-in ceremony at the Legislature.

“Six years to the day … the calendar repeats,” he said. “I'm being sworn in as a state legislator. Six years before … I was sure my life was over.” 

He said he never planned on running for office and envisioned his retirement as simply being a great-grandparent with his wife. But the tragedy took him on a different course.  

While in mourning, he found a new purpose through volunteering with a local nonprofit, Trauma Intervention Program (TIP), after stumbling into a trauma yoga class that he later began teaching. Volunteers at TIP receive 20 hours of training, then work three 12-hour shifts each month at the request of first responders to comfort survivors at crime scenes.

“TIP volunteers go out, and be there for the survivors,” Carter said. “With full knowledge, you can't fix anything. All you can do is crawl into the pit of despair and be with that person … while they're trying to get through the toughest day of their life.” 

He said his experience with trauma intervention has helped him to “start living again.”

After friends encouraged him to run in the 2022 election, he decided it was a way he could expand his commitment to community service. Carter said he will bring a sense of empathy, an ability to connect with people and trustworthiness to the Legislature. 

“I put 600 miles on a pair of combat boots,” Carter said about his time knocking on doors on the campaign trail. “And 6,000 doors — those boots carried me through.”

He said he learned residents want to be heard. 

Carter said the people in his district are “frustrated that … residential communities are being turned into rental subdivisions owned by out-of-state investors or investment groups.”

“They don't like the fact that our communities are deteriorating because their neighbors may not have buy-in because all they're doing is renting,” he said. “And the vision of homeownership is slipping away.”

Carter said another issue that arose focused on the Clark County School District and the “behavior of the school board and performance of the administration.”

He said there are a number of great deans, counselors and teachers who say that they can’t do their job efficiently because of problems with leadership.

“Am I carrying bills about those [issues]?” he said. “No. But other people are and you can bet I'll be involved in those discussions.”

On the issues

Composting human remains

Carter said the No. 1 policy he will seek this session focuses on legalizing natural organic reduction, or so-called human composting, as an eco-friendly alternative to burials and cremation.

He said benefits include a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions because, unlike cremation, no fossil fuels or embalming fluids are used and it “doesn’t tie up land in perpetuity.” In California, a law allowing for natural organic reduction, which involves a process that “gently transforms” remains into nutrient soil, will go into effect in 2027 after Washington state legalized the practice in 2019.

“I know personally that you need a way to honor your loved ones,” Carter said. “And I think that this is a practical, reasonable way to help people honor their loved ones.” 

He said the policy will not seek to replace any current methods for “final dispositions of human remains.”

Miscellaneous

Protecting personal data sold by entities in Nevada is another focus for Carter. He said he’s concerned about privacy rights and the effects that selling personal data could have on future generations.

“Our kids get pulled into that right from the start,” he said. “We need to take a serious look … And see if the funds that are generated by it are worth the cost of sacrificing personal privacy.”

He also plans to seek an “equitable” pension for support staff at Clark County School District that would ensure all job classifications receive a full 12-month pension credit.

“We need to take a look at that,” he said.

Another policy he plans on exploring in this session will focus on a strategy to shield people from feeling harassed or traumatized by medical debt collectors.

Carter also plans to propose legislation to ensure Nevada transmission lines are protected from mylar balloons to prevent fires and damage to the electrical grid and surrounding areas.