Nicholas H. "Nick" Carter (born December 11, 1963) is an American attorney who was the Democratic nominee in one of the 2008 Senate elections in Wyoming.

Early life and education

Carter was born in Midland, Texas, as the youngest of nine children. His father, Herb, was an employee of Exxon. When Carter was six, the family moved to Casper, Wyoming, where his father worked in the mining industry. The family later moved to Gillette, which is where Carter continues to make his residence today. In 1982, he graduated from Campbell County High School.

Carter attended Oklahoma State University and graduated with a B.A. degree in 1986. He then attended law school at the University of Wyoming and earned his J.D. degree in 1990.

After passing the Wyoming Bar examination, Carter founded Carter Law Office in 1991 and has since grown it into a successful practice; today he has participated in numerous jury trials. While continuing his private practice, Carter was appointed Special Deputy Prosecuting Attorney in the office of the Campbell County District Attorney, a position in which he served between 1995 and 1998.

Carter has one child, Amanda, who was born in 1985. He and his wife have since divorced.

2008 U.S. Senate campaign

On June 4, 2007, Craig L. Thomas, a Republican Senator from Wyoming, died in Bethesda, Maryland. Governor Dave Freudenthal appointed John Barrasso, a Republican member of the Wyoming State Senate, to serve until a special election in 2008 decided who would fill Thomas's seat until the term expired in 2013. Barrasso is also the Republican nominee in the special election.

In February 2008, Keith Goodenough, a politician with long records of service in the Wyoming House of Representatives, the Wyoming State Senate, and the Casper city council, announced that he would seek the Democratic nomination for the race. Later, Carter made a similar announcement. In August 2008, Carter narrowly defeated Goodenough in the primary by only 304 votes.

Carter has accused Barrasso of being too partisan and of contributing to the current economic crisis "by voting 98% of the time in line with Bush economic policies."

Difficulties facing Carter's campaign included a relatively small amount of name recognition and fundraising compared to Barrasso. In addition, Wyomingites have a strong historical tendency to elect Republicans; the last Wyoming Democrat to be elected to the U.S. Senate was Gale McGee, who was elected in 1958.

As polls predicted, Barrasso won the election in a landslide, with 73% of the vote to Carter's 27%.

Political positions

In the past, Carter has been both a registered Republican and Democrat.

One of Carter's main issues is to reduce partisanship in Congress and work across party lines to attain solutions to national problems. He supports funding the State Children's Health Insurance Program and working toward universal healthcare, while opposing the current involvement of lobbyists in the healthcare system. He opposes lenience in dealing with illegal immigration, supporting ways of securing the nation's borders and creating a new path to citizenship. He favors trade policies that would protect American jobs. He hopes to aid the economy by simplifying the tax system to benefit the middle- and working-classes. He also hopes to help the United States achieve energy independence with a wind energy initiative, also designed to bring jobs to Wyoming. In addition, he favors gun rights.

References

1. Nick Carter Campaign Site • About Nick
2. Fox News • Wyoming Sen. Craig Thomas Dies at 74
3. KURL8.com • Goodenough announces Senate bid against Barrasso
4. Casper Star-Tribune • Barrasso plans Monday kickoff
5. The Gillette News-Record • Carter to face Barrasso in general election
6. Nick Carter Campaign Site • Nick on the Issues

External links

• Official campaign site