Meet Representative Brenda Carter

I hold a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a master’s in public administration. In addition, I am a licensed insurance producer/solicitor.

I joined the Improved Benevolent Protective Order of Elks in 1975, where I held various local, state, and national positions. In 1997, I co-organized the now-historic Million Woman March. My involvement with the Million Woman March and the Elks led to speaking engagements around the globe.

After returning to the United States, I continued speaking across the country. At one such engagement, I opened for a young Senator from Illinois. In 2008, that young Senator, Barack H. Obama, became the first African American President of the United States. In 1998, I moved to Pontiac, Michigan, where I immediately began working throughout the community.

I spent eight years on the Pontiac School District Board of Education before being elected to the Michigan House of Representatives in 2018. I am now serving my fourth term in the Michigan Legislature, representing House District 53, which includes Pontiac, Auburn Hills Precinct 4, and Waterford Township Precincts 14 through 21. I serve as Minority Vice Chair of the Insurance Committee and also serve on the Health Policy Committee and the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules. Since taking office, I have successfully sponsored 14 bills signed into law in Michigan.

I created five task force groups in my district focused on Education, Veterans Services, Poverty and Homelessness, Minority Maternal Health, and Criminal Justice Reform. As a result of my work with the Poverty and Homelessness Task Force, I founded and co-chair the bipartisan, bicameral Poverty and Homelessness Caucus to help address poverty and homelessness in Michigan.

I am the first woman to represent House District 53. I am married to Pontiac City Council Pro Tem Emeritus Randy Carter. I am a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Pontiac Alumnae Chapter, and New Mount Moriah International Church.