Rep. John Carter (R) Elected 2002, 2d term
Born:	Nov. 6, 1941, Houston
Home:	Round Rock
Education:	TX Tech. U., B.A. 1964, U. of TX, J.D. 1969
Religion:	Christian
Marital Status:	married (Erika)
Elected  Office:	Dist. Ct. judge, 1982-2001.
Professional Career:	Practicing atty., 1969-81.
DC Office	408 CHOB20515, 202-225-3864; Fax: 202-225-5886; Web site: www.house.gov/carter/
State Offices	Belton, 254-933-1392; Round Rock, 512-246-1600.
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Williamson County, Texas, long a rural backwater almost no one elsewhere had ever heard of, has become a major population and business center deep in the heart of Texas. Its population has virtually doubled in every recent decade: 37,000 in 1970, 77,000 in 1980, 140,000 in 1990, 250,000 in 2000, 317,000 in 2004. From 2000 to 2004 it was the nation's 15th fastest-growing county. Williamson County is just north of Austin, and much of this growth has been generated by the Austin area's high tech boom; hugely successful Dell Computer is headquartered here in Round Rock. But Williamson County's growth continued, even accelerated, after the high-tech bust of 2000. And more growth will probably be generated by Texas 130, a 49-mile toll road under construction in empty farmland a few miles east of congested I-35. Local officials worried that the result will be more sprawl and inadequate local services: Most of the area served by the tollway has been outside the jurisdiction of local cities, and there have been complaints that Texas officials have not given the counties adequate planning and management tools. Bell and Coryell Counties, just north of Williamson County, are the site of Fort Hood, the largest U.S. military base in the world and the largest employer in Texas. The base is home to 42,000 Army soldiers and the only post in the United States that is capable of supporting two full armored divisions. Established in 1942 as a tank destroyer tactical and firing center, it uprooted on short notice 300 farming and ranching families who had been living a quiet life; now, this land serves a Texas-sized facility that covers 218,000 acres (that's 340 square miles, partner). Toward the end of World War II, about 4,000 German prisoners of war were interned at Hood. The primary mission of Fort Hood has become maintaining readiness for combat missions, including training Army Reservists in urban combat. Members of its 4th Infantry Division captured Saddam Hussein in a "spider hole" in the Iraq countryside. East of Fort Hood is Temple, a rail center and the only city in the area with a downtown business district. Decades ago, the freight carried from its rail yards was mostly cotton; now, it serves a variety of industries, including plastics manufacturers.

The 31st Congressional District of Texas, newly created in the 2001 court redistricting and sharply altered in the 2003 Republican legislative redistricting, is dominated by Williamson, Bell and Coryell Counties, which include 86% of its population. The district also includes two smaller counties north of Coryell County and two counties and part of another east of Williamson and Bell Counties. Historically this was solidly Democratic country for many years, devoted to the party of first the Confederacy and then the New Deal, full of cotton farmers who distrusted Wall Street and railroads and trusted in politicians like Sam Rayburn and Lyndon Johnson. As late as 1990 the district voted for Democratic Governor Ann Richards and Senator Lloyd Bentsen. But people here have cottoned on to George W. Bush's brand of Republicanism. In 2004 he carried the district 67%-33%.

The congressman from the 31st District is John Carter, a Republican first elected in 2002. He grew up in Houston and graduated from Texas Tech and the University of Texas law school. He practiced law in Williamson County and served as a municipal judge in Round Rock. He was appointed a district judge in 1981 by Governor Bill Clements and in 1982 stood for election; judicial elections are partisan in Texas, and he was the first Republican judge elected in Williamson County. Other Republicans started sweeping county offices as well, and Carter became known as the father of the county Republican party.

In 2001, a three-judge district court drew Texas's new congressional district lines, creating a new Republican 31st District stretching from Williamson County to Houston. Carter retired from the bench and started running for Congress. The real contest in this district was among the eight candidates for the Republican nomination. Carter's main rivals were Peter Wareing, the son-in-law of Texas oilman Jack Blanton, who was runner-up for the Republican nomination in the 7th District in Harris County in 2000, and Brad Barton, son of 6th District Congressman Joe Barton. In the primary, Wareing led with 37% to 26% for Carter and 16% for Barton. Wareing got 67% in his home base in Harris County; Carter got 58% in Williamson County. In the four-week runoff campaign Carter attacked Wareing as a liberal in disguise for his campaign contributions to Democrats like Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee. When Wareing proposed that each candidate sign a "clean campaign pledge," Carter offered what he called a "homestead pledge"--a ploy to highlight his charge that Wareing was a Houston carpetbagger who rented an apartment in the district for the sole purpose of running for office. Barton endorsed Carter as "the only true conservative in this race." Wareing out-spent Carter more than 2-to-1, but Carter won 57%-43%. He got 78% of the vote in Williamson County, which cast 33% of the vote; Wareing got 65% of the vote in Harris County, which cast 16% of the vote. Carter won the general election easily.

In the House, Carter became the freshman class representative on the Republican Steering Committee, which makes committee assignments. He is a social and fiscal conservative who opposes abortion rights, supports voluntary prayer in schools and promised to bring a faith-based family agenda to Washington. On the Judiciary Committee, he passed a bill to establish penalties for aggravated identity theft. He also won enactment of his proposal for a $29 million project in Williamson County to use recycled wastewater on large fields, to preserve limited and more expensive drinking water. Carter won House passage, 344-72, of his Terrorist Penalties Enhancement Act as an amendment to the intelligence reorganization bill.

In the October 2003 redistricting, the only territory carried over from the old 31st District to the new was Williamson County, which eliminated the possibility of competition from a Houston area candidate. Carter was reelected 65%-32% in 2004. In January 2005, with help from Majority Leader Tom DeLay, Carter became the fourth Texas Republican on the Appropriations Committee. His assignments included the reorganized Military Quality of Life Subcommittee, leaving him well-positioned--with ranking Democrat Chet Edwards of the next-door 17th District--to defend the interests of Fort Hood.

Committees

• Appropriations (36th of 37 R): Foreign Operations, Export Financing & Related Programs; Homeland Security; Military Quality of Life & Veterans Affairs & Related Agencies.

Group Ratings (More Info)
	ADA	ACLU	AFS	LCV	ITIC	NTU	COC	ACU	NTLC	CHC
2004	0	0	0	0	90	69	100	96	89	92	--
2003	5	--	0	5	--	65	100	92	--	--	--

National Journal Ratings (More Info)
	2003 LIB	--	2003 CONS		2004 LIB	--	2004 CONS
Economic	21%	--	75%		5%	--	93%
Social	0%	--	95%		9%	--	85%
Foreign	0%	--	89%		10%	--	86%
For National Journal's complete 2004 Vote Ratings, as well as previous ratings dating back to 1995, please click here.

Key Votes Of The 108th Congress (More Info)
1. Drilling in ANWR Y 2. Approve Bush Tax Cuts Y 3. Medicare/Rx Bill Y 4. Bar Overtime Pay Regs. N 5. DC School Vouchers Y 6. Ban Human Cloning Y		7. Restrict Gun Liability Y  8. Ban Partial-Birth Abortion Y  9. Ban Same-Sex Marriage Y 10. Fund Iraq War Y 11. Bar Cuba Embargo Funds N 12. Intelligence Reorg. Y

Election Results (More Info)
	Candidate	Total Votes	Percent	Expenditures
2004 general	John Carter (R)	160,247	65%	$899,885
	Jon Porter (D)	80,292	32%	$15,618
	Other	6,888	3%
2004 primary	John Carter (R)	25,293	70%
	Wes Riddle (R)	8,215	23%
	Dirk Armbrust (R)	2,868	8%
2002 general	John Carter (R)	111,556	69%	$811,681
	David Bagley (D)	44,183	27%	$23,763
	Other	5,745	4%

2004 Presidential Vote Bush (R) 170,234 (67%) Kerry (D) 85,574 (33%)

2000 Presidential Vote Bush (R) 136,116 (69%) Gore (D) 62,493 (31%)

For 1992 and 1996 presidential results in the Thirty-First District, please see the Almanac 2000 online. Please note that these older returns reflect district lines as they existed prior to 2002 redistricting.

• Cook Partisan Voting Index: R +16
• District Size: 7,194 square miles
• Population in 2000: 651,619; 77.9% urban; 22.1% rural
• Median Household Income: $43,381; 9.6% are below the poverty line
• Occupation: 22.7% blue collar; 62.6% white collar; 14.7% gray collar; 16.4% military veterans
• Race/Ethnic Origin: 66.1% White, 13.0% Black, 2.1% Asian, 0.4% Amer. Indian, 0.2% Hawaiian, 1.8% Two+ races, 0.1% Other, 16.3% Hispanic origin
• Ancestry: 12.6% German, 7.6% Irish, 6.8% English
• Click here for statewide demographic data.