Early life and education Carter was born in
Lafayette,
Indiana. His father was a farmer and realtor. Carter grew up on his family's farm in
Lowell, Indiana. Carter obtained a bachelor's degree in
Economics from
Harvard University. He also received his
MBA and
JD from the
Indiana University Bloomington. Carter ran for
Indiana Attorney General in 1996, but was narrowly defeated by
Jeff Modisett. Carter ran for the same office again in 2000, running on a platform of reducing
drunk driving and
cybercrime and bolstering
consumer protection. Carter defeated incumbent
Karen Freeman-Wilson and served as Attorney General from 2001 to 2009, in the administrations of
Governors Frank O'Bannon,
Joe Kernan, and
Mitch Daniels. Carter was elected as President of the
National Association of Attorneys General in 2005. A focus of Carter's work as attorney general was developing a strong state "Do Not Call" Law restricting
telemarketing. Carter was succeeded to the office of Attorney General by
Greg Zoeller. but lost to
Curtis Hill at the June 2016 Republican state convention.
Personal life Carter's wife, Marilyn Carter, was a television journalist in Indianapolis. Carter is the founder and president of the DeMotte Grain Company, Inc. in
DeMotte. ==Electoral history==