[1] On 17 September 1907 he married Alexandria Delia Kate Comerford in Brisbane.

[1] Carter stood as a candidate of the Labor in the electoral district of Brisbane North in the 1907 state election, but was unsuccessful.

[1][2][3] At the 1915 election, Carter was elected to the Queensland Legislative Assembly in the electoral district of Port Curtis, defeating the sitting Ministerialist member John Kessel.

He won it despite claims that the local newspaper, the Gladstone Observer misrepresented his campaign speech and refused to publish a letter from him providing correct information.

[6][7] However, he contested the seat again in the 1923 election and was returned on 12 May 1923, having defeated John Fletcher.