This November, Buddy Carter is hoping to continue to serve the first district, his lifelong home, as its representative in Congress. “One of the most important things to me is this area,” Carter said. “It’s where I was born and raised, where I’ve lived all my life and where I intend to live the rest of my life so I am committed to making it the best that it can be.”
Carter initially started his career as a pharmacist after graduating with a Bachelor of Science from the University of Georgia and went on to own Carter’s Pharmacy, Inc. “Practicing pharmacy has given me an opportunity to know how to help people,” Carter said. “That’s what I consider myself doing in this position: helping people.” It’s this skill that he believes paved the way for him to serve as the mayor of Pooler from 1996 to 2004 and on the Georgia General Assembly.
One issue that is important to Carter is student debt. He has sat on a number of special committees focused on mitigating the effect of debt on college students, in particular, the Complete Georgia College Committee which aims to ensure all students in the state are able to complete their college education. “So many people in this state are within one or two semesters of completing their degrees,” Carter said.
“Recently, during the August break, I visited a number of schools to inquire about how student debt affects the students,” Carter said. “I wanted to find out what these schools were doing to prevent it.” Carter said he has been impressed with grant programs that target groups of students who are close to completing their programs by offering grants to finish their education.
Carter has also co-sponsored the Empowering Students Through Enhanced Financial Education Act. “It’s so important to make sure students are educated about what they are getting into when they take out these loans,” Carter said.
Though Carter does not consider himself an artistic expert, he considers the arts as valuable to him and cites SCAD for much of the vitality of the city. “I remember downtown Savannah in the 70s and it was not a good place to be,” Carter said. “Then SCAD came along and was the catalyst for the renovation that saved it. That’s what makes me appreciate SCAD so much and makes me appreciate the arts.”
As the midterm elections approach, Carter wants to remind students that “just because you are away from home doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t vote…students should still be involved and support the candidates they believe in while becoming knowledgable of the issues.”
To find out more about Rep. Carter, visit his website and to find out more about his opponent, Lisa Ring, check out our article here. Check out the Board of Registrars website for all the information needed to vote in Georgia on Election Day, Nov. 6.
Elena Burnett is the Editor-in-Chief of District. She’s a writing major who will graduate in 2019.
