Jill P. Carter is an American politician who represents Maryland's 41st legislative district of Baltimore City in the Maryland State Senate. She previously represented the same district Maryland House of Delegates. She was elected to the Maryland legislature in 2002 and took office in January 2003, resigning in 2017. She was appointed to the state Senate May 4, 2018. She won the primary election, receiving 54% of the vote, handily defeating Martin O’Malley's son-in-law, educator J.D Merrill and former senator Nathaniel T. Oaks.
Prior to law school, Carter worked for Baltimore Afro American Newspaper.
Legal career
Carter was admitted to the Maryland Bar in 1993. She has worked as a staff attorney for The Legal Aid Bureau, the Office of the Public Defender, and the Office of the City Solicitor. She is a member of Monumental City Bar Association, the Maryland State Bar Association, former member of the Maryland Trial Lawyers' Association and a founding member of the Black Lawyers Group. She is founder and president of the Walter P. Carter Foundation. She was the executive director of the Maryland Minority Business Association in 2002, chair of the Baltimore Branch NAACP Legal Redress Committee. Carter has individually represented several hundred individuals in the district and circuit in Baltimore City and 6 of Maryland's 23 counties in addition to the hundreds of cases she handled on behalf of the Office of the Public Defender.
Legislative career
Carter was elected to the Maryland Senate November 6, 2018. She is a member of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, Joint Committee on Administrative, Executive and Legislative Review, Joint Committee on Fair Practices and State Personnel Oversight, Maryland Violence Intervention and Prevention Advisory Council, and the Marijuana Legalization Work Group. From 2017 to 2018 she served as director of the Baltimore City Office of Civil Rights, a position she resigned from The Maryland House of Delegates to accept. Carter was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates in 2002. She was the third African-American female attorney elected to the Maryland Legislature. During her first term from 2003 to 2006, she was the only African-American female attorney serving in the Maryland House of Delegates. She was assigned to the House Judiciary committee where she served as chair of the Estates and Trusts Subcommittee, the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland, and the Women Legislators of Maryland. Carter voted against legalizing slot machines in Maryland in 2005. Prior to her re-election in 2006, she became a vocal critic of then mayor Martin O'Malley's "failed policing policies". She posited that the so-labeled, zero tolerance, arrest strategy failed to cause significant reduction in a soaring crime rate in Baltimore City, but, rather, pressured police officers to make tens of thousands of arrests that did not produce criminal charges. She has oft been referred to as a lone voice in the wilderness for her challenges to established politicians on matters of adequate housing for the poor, lead poisoning of children, to adequately fund public education, both in the legislature, and in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City., and, in 2007, calling for a special session of the legislature to deal with the BGE utility rate increase. In 2016, Carter resigned her seat in the Maryland House of Delegates to accept an appointment as director of the Baltimore City Office of Civil Rights and Wage Enforcement. On April 30, 2018, Gov. Larry Hogan appointed Carter to fill the Senate seat vacated by Nathaniel T. Oaks, who resigned before pleading guilty to federal corruption charges. After being encouraged to run for the Senate seat, Carter was forced to step down as director of the Office of Civil Rights and Wage Enforcement prior to accepting her appointment. Carter handily defeated her opponent in the primary election and went on to win the general election amassing more than 31,000 votes.
Voted against raising sales and services taxes by 20%, i.e. the Transportation and Sales Investment Act of 2007
;2013
Co-sponsored HB 860. Signed by the governor on May 16, 2013, the new law approved 1.1 billion dollars to construct new schools in Baltimore City.
;2019
Voted against the a bill that would have enabled child sexual abuse survivors to file civil lawsuits in Maryland by eliminating the statute of limitations. Maryland currently allows such lawsuits to be brought for up to 20 years after a child has reached the age of majority. Her vote in committee as the lone Democrat, killed the bill. The Maryland House passed the bill by a bipartisan vote of 136-2 without debate.
Awards and recognitions
In 2006 Carter was listed in Maryland's Top 100 Women in the Daily Record
In 2009 Carter was the honored as an "Exceptional Woman in Business and Government", at the first annual "Pretty in Pinstripes" Women's History Month celebration.
In 2008, Carter was the only member of Baltimore City's state delegation to receive a grade of "Outstanding" from the local NAACP.
Election results
2006 Democratic primary for Maryland House of Delegates – District 41
Carter declared her candidacy for the Democratic nomination in the Baltimore mayoral election of 2007 She had criticized the city's mayor and administration for giving unfair advantages to developers and corporations at the expense of the poor and middle class, and had vowed to replace the police department's leadership if elected mayor. In a poll of likely democratic voters released by the Baltimore Sun on July 16, 2007, Carter trailed Mayor Dixon, Councilman Mitchell and Andrey Bundley with 2% of those polled. Despite her campaign activities, such as camping out all night on some of the city's most violent street corners, serving hot dogs, having one-on-one conversations with residents, and distributing voter registration forms, Carter's campaign failed to raise enough money to become viable, the political establishment did not support her, and Carter eventually finished fourth in the race with only 2.8% of the vote.
After considering a bid for mayor in the 2016 Baltimore Mayoral election, Carter instead endorsed Catherine Pugh, calling Pugh the best choice to stop the "failed and fake War on Drugs, create jobs and opportunities for everyone, and end lead poisoning and not give lip service to it."
