Robert C. Carpenter (June 18, 1924 – August 6, 2011) was a Republican member of the North Carolina General Assembly.
He represented the state's 29th, 42nd, and 50th Senate districts, including constituents in Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Jackson, Macon, Swain and Transylvania counties.
A retired bank executive from Franklin, North Carolina, Carpenter was elected to the state senate in 1988.
He was on the Smokey Mountain Mental Health Board and served on the Governor's NC Council on Developmental Disabilities.
Carpenter was instrumental in establishing the county's Highway 441 Welcome Center and the Veteran's Clinic in Franklin, and in getting a natural gas line to western North Carolina.