Representative Buddy Carter
Secretary Health & Human Services
HD 159 (R - Pooler)
Representative Earl L. “Buddy” Carter from Pooler, Georgia represents House District 159 which covers South Effingham and West Chatham Counties. Representative Carter is a second-term legislator who entered politics to give back to the state and community that has so richly blessed his family and his life.
Representative Carter is not new to the political arena, having served as Mayor of the City of Pooler for 5 terms (1996-2004). Prior to his terms as Mayor, his service to Pooler also included 2 years as Mayor Pro-Tem and 4 years on the Planning and Zoning Committee. He also served as Chairman of the Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Planning Commission and Coastal Georgia Regional Development Center, as well as serving on the Board of Directors of West Chatham YMCA, Administrative Board of Wesley Monumental Methodist Church, and on the Advisory Board of Wachovia Bank. Rep. Carter’s involvement in the state and his community also includes serving on the Boards of the Mighty Eight Air Force Heritage Museum, and Young Harris College.
On a personal side Representative Carter has been married to the former Amy Coppage of Waycross for 29 exhilarating years. They have three sons, Joel, a graduate of Washington & Lee University, Barrett, a junior at the University of Georgia, and Travis, a senior at Savannah Country Day School.
Rep. Buddy Carter was born in Savannah, Georgia and graduated with a B.S. in Pharmacy from the College of Pharmacy at the University of Georgia after earning an associate degree from Young Harris College. Besides being active in politics and the community, Representative Carter is also a full time pharmacist who owns several pharmacies on the coast.
Representative Buddy Carter serves in the Georgia House of Representatives as Secretary of the Health & Human Services Committee. He is also a member of the Appropriations, Economic Development and Industrial Relations committees. In 2007 Speaker Glenn Richardson appointed Rep. Carter to the special committee on Certificate of Need (CON).