Karen R. Carter

Louisiana Senate
KAREN CARTER PETERSON
LOUISIANA STATE SENATOR
DISTRICT 5

In January 2010, after a decade of service in the Louisiana House of Representatives, Karen Carter Peterson to become the new state senator for District 5. District five encompasses the stretch along the Mississippi River from Canal to Jefferson Avenue and includes the Central Business District, the Warehouse District, the Garden District, Central City and parts of Uptown, Mid City and Carrollton areas.

During her time in the Louisiana House of Representatives, Sen. Carter Peterson established herself as a powerful, worthy asset to the legislature, serving on the House Appropriations Committee, the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, the House Governmental Affairs Committee, and most recently, she served as House Speaker Pro Tempore. During her service in the House, she was also the first woman to chair the House Insurance Committee. Currently, Senator Carter Peterson serves as a member on the Senate Commerce, Consumer Protection and International Affairs Committee, Finance Committee, Health & Welfare Committee, Judiciary B committee, and Local & Municipal Affairs Committee.

Sen. Carter Peterson is a 1991 graduate of Howard University School of Business, where she received a degree in International Business and Marketing, and of Tulane University Law School, where she was afforded the opportunity to attend both Boston College Law School and the University of Virginia's Law School as a visiting student. Sen. Carter Peterson has many present and past professional and civic activities on her resume. She has been a board member and volunteer for a wide variety of organizations. Beginning at the age of 18 through the year 2008, she served as a delegate to Democratic National Conventions. Over the years, Sen. Carter Peterson has been also recognized by many organizations and publications for her service, this includes being awarded the Legislator of the Year Award by the Alliance for Good Government in 2000 and 2004. Sen. Carter Peterson has also been honored with the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation and the Institute of Politics at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government's New Frontier Award and the Aspen Institute-Rodel Fellowship in Public Service.