Congressman Troy A. Carter, Sr. is an elected United States House of Representatives member from Louisiana’s 2nd Congressional District.
Congressman Carter is a native Louisianian, born and raised in the Algiers Parish of New Orleans.
Congressman Troy A. Carter earned a bachelor’s degree from Xavier University and a master’s degree from Holy Cross University. He has also studied at Harvard’s JFK School of Government and Carnegie Mellon’s School of Urban and Public Affairs. In May 2023, Congressman Carter was awarded a Doctorate of Humane Letters, honoris causa, from Xavier University.
Congressman Carter began his professional career as a senior aide to Mayor Sidney Barthelemy. In 1991, Congressman Carter became the first African American to be elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives from the 102nd District in Algiers, where he served as the youngest-ever floor leader representing the City of New Orleans.
In 1994, Congressman Carter was elected to the New Orleans City Council, representing District C, including Algiers, and the historic French Quarter, again becoming the first African American elected. After a hiatus from public office, Congressman Carter was elected to the State Senate for Louisiana’s 7th District, where he served as Senate Minority Leader. During his time as a Legislator, Congressman Carter authored and co-authored hundreds of bills that are now law.
Congressman Carter currently serves on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, one of the largest committees in Congress that has jurisdiction over all modes of transportation and infrastructure. He also serves on the powerful committee for Homeland Security of the United States, where he serves as Ranking Member over Emergency Management and Technology.
As a member of both committees, Congressman Carter has championed efforts to protect communities in his district from flooding while enhancing the federal government’s approach to flood resilience and adaptation. Congressman Carter has introduced bipartisan legislation to help communities and individuals more efficiently access federal resources to prepare for, respond to and recover from floods. He has also championed a bipartisan proposal to help Veterans Affairs facilities and their surrounding local communities coordinate on flood mitigation projects that ensure veterans have safe and reliable access to critical services even when floods occur.
Louisiana’s 2nd Congressional District has seen major impacts from flooding, including from Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the costliest storm on record, which made landfall and severely affected New Orleans and its surrounding area. The district was also recently impacted by Hurricane Ida in August 2021 which made landfall on the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Ida caused $75 billion total in damage across Louisiana and Mississippi.
Congressman Carter is a proud husband to wife, Brigadier General Ana Carter of the United States Army, and father to sons Troy Jr. and Joshua. They live on the Westbank of New Orleans, where Congressman Carter was born and raised.
