Carter, who is also involved with the Webster County Democrats, will oversee the county and district diversity, equity, and inclusion chairs for the Iowa Democratic Party, as well as serving as a member of the party’s state central committee.

“My goal is to educate about diversity, equity, and inclusion,” said Carter. “I want everyone to understand the comprehensive benefits of a diverse, equitable, and inclusive community.”

He said the benefits of diversity and inclusion are becoming more visible in Webster County with recent events and discussions.

“I can only speak for myself when I say, Webster County is an imperfect union of Americans that is striving to become more perfect,” said Carter. “We’ve had Fort Dodge Pride, multiple Juneteenth celebrations, and a number of other community events that give us the opportunity to see beyond surface level differences to embrace the incredible range of hearts and minds in our community.”

-Submitted photo
Sarah Small-Carter and Demarcus Carter recently attended the state Democratic convention. Small-Carter participated as a Webster County elected delegate.

Carter attended the state convention with his wife, Sarah Small-Carter, who also participated as a Webster County elected delegate.

“Convention was a great opportunity to connect with people from across the State of Iowa,” said Small-Carter. “Candidates laid out their visions for Iowa, including Deidre Dejear, who is the Democratic nominee for governor. Other business of the convention included procedural duties and platform discussion, but as Dejear said in her speech, ‘Iowa is worth the work!'”

Small-Carter also participated as a member of the Stonewall Caucus, a constituency caucus within the Iowa Democratic Party.

“I was honored to represent the LGBTQ+ community as a member of the Stonewall Caucus at the Democratic Convention in Des Moines,” said Small-Carter. “It was even more poignant knowing that in doing so, I was missing out on celebrating the first Fort Dodge Pride event with hundreds of members of my community. Visibility matters.”

Carter stated that his experiences at the state Democratic convention were also both educational and inspirational.

“Experiencing the inner workings of the party was absolutely wonderful,” said Carter. “I loved every minute of it, from the candidate speeches to the robust debates around amendments to the party constitution. I would say one big takeaway is that a lot of thought — back and forth — and reasoning goes into the party platform. These aren’t edicts from on high, but instead your friends and neighbors getting together in a convention hall and having a conversation.”

Involvement in Webster County — and Iowa — politics is as simple as wanting to make your community better, said Carter.

“I’m just your run-of-the-mill red-blooded American guy. People don’t need to be some kind of political prodigy to do the work. They just need the desire to make the community better one step at a time. A lot of politics isn’t glamorous. It’s long days of phone banking or knocking on doors or falling asleep reading policy papers. But small contributions from everyday Iowans can lead to progress towards a better tomorrow.”