Lee Carter

Lee Carter

Summary

Current Position: State Delegate of District 50 since 2018
Affiliation: Democrat
Candidate: 2022 Governor

OnAir Post: Lee Carter

Twitter

About

Source: Campaign page

Lee joined the Marine Corps during the beginning of the ‘Global War on Terror’, and worked in technological repair in a Special Operations-capable support unit, completing tours in the Middle East and the Mediterranean. His unit was also one of the first to respond to Haiti, following the devastating earthquake in 2010.

Throughout Lee’s career and civic engagement his focus has been on helping others — whether that was in his service in the Marine Corps, helping provide cancer patients with consistent care by maintaining biomedical radiation therapy equipment, or assisting small local businesses with IT support.

Experience

Work Experience

  • IT Specialist
    USMC
    2006 to 2011

Education

  • USMC
    Staff Noncommissioned Officer Academy
    2019 to present

Personal

Birth Year: 1987
Place of Birth: Elizabeth City, NC
Gender: Male
Race(s): Caucasian
Religion: Unitarian Universalist
Spouse: Stephanie Elizabeth Tipple Carter
Children: Rowan

Membership & Affiliation:
Bull Run Unitarian Universalists
Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership

Contact

Legislative Assistant: Thomas McIntire
Administrative Assistant During Session: Jane Hornbeck

Email:

Offices

Capitol Office
Pocahontas Building
900 E. Main St,
Richmond, Virginia 23219
Phone: (804) 698-1050

District Office
P.O. Box 243
Manassas, VA 20108
Phone: (571) 261-8546

Web

Government Page, Campaign Site, Twitter, Facebook

Politics

Source: Wikipedia

Virginia House of Delegates campaign

Carter was inspired to run 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, Carter had long identified as “…to the left of where the Democratic party [is]…” but was further inspired by Bernie Sanders to explore democratic socialism. Carter’s campaign mostly focused on issues such as single-payer healthcare and financial contributions to politicians. Jackson Miller, the incumbent Republican, distributed a mailer campaign by comparing Carter to Communist rulers Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong, an act described as fear-mongering and condemned by the Democratic Party of Virginia. Miller called Carter an “anti-jobs candidate” and said his “ideas are so out of the mainstream, and so incredibly expensive.” Carter won the race by nine percentage points, one of 15 DSA members to be elected in 2017.

In office

Carter has been mocked by Republicans as well as centrist Democrats for his democratic socialist ideology, most notably when during Carter’s remarks on a tax bill 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 (“No member shall in debate use any language or gesture calculated to wound, offend, or insult another member.”). 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.” In October 2018, Carter admitted to having made “homophobic, trans-phobic, sometimes sexist or racially insensitive” comments online as a teenager in order to get ahead of any potential attempts at “personal smears.”

Recent Elections

2019

Lee J. Carter (D)10,70153.26%
Ian T. Lovejoy (R)9,33646.47%
Write-In (Write-in)550.27%
TOTAL20,092

2018

Lee Carter (D)11,36654.3%
Jackson Hunter Miller (R)9,51845.5%
Write In (Write-in)410.2%
TOTAL20,925

Source: Virginia Legislative Information System

Finances

CARTER, LEE has run in 1 race for public office, winning 1 of them. The candidate has raised a total of$289,421.

Source: Follow the Money

Committees

Committees

Militia, Police and Public Safety
Finance

Subcommittees

Finance – Subcommittee #1

Appointments

House Finance
House Militia Police and Public Safety

Voting Record

See: Vote Smart

New Legislation

Source: Virginia Legislative Information System

Issues

Civil Rights

Defending and Demanding Women’s Rights

Lee knows that reproductive rights are human rights. He is an unapologetic supporter of a woman’s right to choose and will never support legislation that limits women’s access to healthcare. He will also continue the fight for pay equity, workplace rights, and increased protection from domestic violence and sexual assault.In 2019, Lee co-sponsored HJ 579 to ratify the ERA, and he won’t stop fighting until women have constitutionally protected equality.

LGBTQ Equality

Lee supports immediately passing legislation to prohibit discrimination in employment, public accommodation, public contracting, apprenticeship programs, housing, banking, and insurance on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. He also supports repeal of the constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, and he’ll work to remove provisions in the Code of Virginia that prohibit same-sex marriage.

Democracy

Voting Rights

Voting is foundational to democracy, and Lee supports efforts to make it easier for people to vote. Lee supports repealing Virginia’s voter ID law and instituting no excuse early voting and same-day voter registration. He also supports ranked-choice voting.

Economy

EconomicsLimiting Corporate Influence in Virginia Politics

Lee refuses to accept campaign contributions from all for-profit entities, including all corporate donors. He supports banning corporate contributions and establishing a system of publicly financed elections.

Consumer Protection

Lee believes elected officials should protect consumers from predatory behavior. In Virginia, loan sharks have been able to prey on vulnerable people in their times of need, and that’s why Lee was a co-patron on HB 47, the Payday Lending Prohibition Act. Lee also introduced HB 1755 to establish net neutrality in Virginia.

Education

Lee supports raising teacher pay, and in 2019 he introduced HB 1764 which would allow teachers to stand up and demand better working conditions without fear of reprisal. Lee supports massive investment in school capital improvements, the elimination of as many SOLs as possible, and he opposes all attempts to privatize education (e.g. charter schools).

Environment

Lee refuses contributions from the fossil-fuel industry and opposes the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, the Mountain Valley Pipeline, and fracking. In 2019, he co-sponsored HB 1635 to stop new fossil-fuel infrastructure construction. Lee supports massive investments in green energy and believes consumers should be able to purchase or produce their own renewable energy.

Health Care

Lee’s vote to expand Medicaid was one of the proudest moments of his life, and people are signing up faster than expected for the program. But there are still over half a million Virginians with no health insurance whatsoever, and over a million more who have insurance but can’t afford to use it. Lee won’t stop fighting until we achieve universal coverage in Virginia.

Infrastructure

Transportation

Lee believes we need to build a world-class mass transit system capable of providing for Northern Virginia’s ever-growing population and reducing commuting times. Lee supports increased funding for public transportation and has consistently opposed new tolls. He supports upgrading existing intersections to alleviate bottlenecks and safety issues and will push for night and weekend service for the VRE.

Criminal Justice Reform

Lee believes we need to stop criminalizing poverty, end cash bail, abolish private prisons, and end the application of the death penalty. In 2019, Lee introduced HB 2373 to legalize cannabis in Virginia. He also introduced HB 1761prohibiting government purchase of goods and services produced by prison labor.

Affordable Housing

We have a crisis of housing affordability – housing costs are the single largest squeeze on residents of Manassas and Prince William County. Lee supports a wide variety of policies to lower the cost of housing, including cooperative ownership and a public option for housing.

Discuss

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