U.S. House of Representatives
Carr first ran as a
Democrat for
Michigan's 6th congressional district in 1972, facing eight-term Republican incumbent
Charles E. Chamberlain. Chamberlain narrowly defeated Carr by 97,666 votes (50.68%) to 95,029 (49.32%) in what was otherwise a strong Republican year, which persuaded Chamberlain to retire in 1974, when he was succeeded by Carr. Carr represented the district in the
U.S. House for the
94th and to the two succeeding Congresses, serving from January 3, 1975, to January 3, 1981. He was an unsuccessful candidate for re-election in 1980 to the
97th Congress, being defeated by
James Whitney Dunn. Two years later, he defeated Dunn and was elected to the
98th Congress and subsequently re-elected five times. The last two years he represented
Michigan's 8th congressional district after the redistricting in 1993. In
1994, he was the Democrats' nominee for
United States Senate in Michigan, losing to
Spencer Abraham. After losing and regaining his seat in the 1980 and 1982 elections, respectively, he was named to the
House Committee on Appropriations, lowered his profile, and focused his attention on budget and spending issues. ==Later career==