Carpenter ran unsuccessfully for mayor of
Scottsbluff, Nebraska in 1931, but the next year was elected to the
Seventy-third Congress (March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1935) as a
Democrat for the
5th District. He did not run for reelection, since he was running for
Governor of Nebraska in 1934. Failing to get the Democratic nomination, he next ran for a seat in the
U.S. Senate but lost the election, coming in a distant third place with 18% of the vote, as he was running against the incumbent independent Republican
George W. Norris and another Republican candidate. Norris won the election. Carpenter continued to run for various offices unsuccessfully through the 1940s, but was a very successful businessman. He established the only gasoline
refinery in Nebraska in Scottsbluff, with his own chain of gas stations in several states which created gas wars wherever they opened. He eventually sold this operation and started several new businesses. Carpenter was a major in the
United States Air Corps from 1942 to 1945 during
World War II. He was elected mayor of Scottsbluff in 1947, but later stepped down due to perceived conflicts with his many businesses in the city. He founded a new village on the other side of the river from Scottsbluff in 1949 and called it
Terrytown. He based his new businesses there, selling liquor by the drink before Scottsbluff did, starting a radio station, a drive-in movie theater, and two restaurants. Carpenter changed political affiliation five times, being a delegate to the
Republican National Convention in 1956. He was successful in being elected to the state legislature in 1952 and served 22 years as a state senator. In 1970, Carpenter conducted much-publicized legislative hearings against a
gay studies course being offered at the
University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Carpenter considered homosexuality "a terrible disease" and believed that the college course would turn students gay. Carpenter attempted to expose the names of students taking the course. In 1971, he introduced legislation to prohibit courses pertaining to "aberrant" sexuality. It did not pass into law. During his legislative career, he also operated Terry Carpenter, Inc., in Terrytown. He retired in Scottsbluff, Nebraska where he died April 27, 1978. He is buried in Fairview Cemetery in Scottsbluff. ==Campaign failures==