aerospace engineer
Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is s ...
serving as a member of the
Kansas House of Representatives
The Kansas House of Representatives is the lower house of the legislature of the U.S. state of Kansas. Composed of 125 state representatives from districts with roughly equal populations of at least 19,000, its members are responsible for craftin ...
for the 84th district. He assumed office in 2022, after the death of his predecessor, Gail Finney.
Carr is a graduate of Wichita East High School and obtained his bachelor's degree in business quality management and a master's degree in leadership from Southwestern College. He began a career in the aircraft industry in 1996, holding various positions at
Boeing
The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...
and
Spirit AeroSystems
Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc. is an American Manufacturing, manufacturer of aerostructures for commercial airplanes, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. The company produces fuselage sections for Boeing's Boeing 737, 737 and Boeing 787 Dreaml ...
.
Community activism
Before entering the legislature, Carr was a community activist, gaining notoriety as founder of "Us Doing Us," a local nonprofit group, founded around 2014, that organized toy giveaways, Thanksgiving meals, and Sunday get-togethers for people raised in Wichita's African-American community. In December 2024 or January 2025, his "Us Doing Us" project was recognized on Wichita's Fox Kansas TV, receiving a $500 donation from a local law firm (DeVaughn-James Injury Lawyers)"Pay it Forward: Ford Carr," (video and text), January 14, 2025, Fox Kansas, retrieved January 27, 2025
State Representative
Carr—an African-American—was elected to represent the 84th District of the Kansas House of Representatives. The district, in north-central/inner-northeast Wichita has the highest percentage of African-American voters in Sedgwick County, and the third-highest in Kansas, surpassed only by two districts in
Wyandotte County
Wyandotte County () is a county in the U.S. state of Kansas. Its county seat and most populous city is Kansas City, with which it shares a unified government. As of the 2020 census, the population was 169,245, making it Kansas's fourth-m ...
(metropolitan
Kansas City, Kansas
Kansas City (commonly known as KCK) is the third-most populous city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is an inner suburb of the older and more populous Kansas City, Missouri, after which it is named. As ...
). Wichita's neighboring 89th House District, has a single percentage point smaller proportion of Black voters. Slightly more than 30% of the district's residents are Black; about 40% are white; over 10% are multiracial; about 20% are Spanish-speaking.Moore, Miranda " 'I trusted her wholly.' After breaking from Gail Finney, can Rep. Ford Carr earn constituents' trust?: The Wichita lawmaker took office unchallenged, then surprised voters by defecting from his party and predecessor on a bill targeting trans students," April 21, 2023, ''The Beacon News,'' retrieved January 27, 2025Gooch, Bonita "Freshmanxiety: Why Things Got Tense Between Freshmen Kansas Reps. Ford Carr and Marvin Robinson," May 21, 2023, ''The Community Voice,'' retrieved January 27, 2025
When his district's state representative (Gail Finney, D-Wichita, 84th District) declined to run for re-election (due to health issues), she encouraged Carr to run for her seat. He was unopposed in both primary and general elections.
Carr indicated his concerns included banning the "legalized slavery" of using prison inmates for labor, addressing the state's "horrid" foster care system, and motivating people to be voters.
In the 2023 legislative session, concerns were raised that Carr was far less engaged with, and responsive to, his constituents, than his predecessor, Finney. Interviews with numerous constituents indicated he had not communicated with them directly—not through individual personal contact, nor legislative newsletters, nor any events where constituents could express their concerns, nor to enable the representative and his constituents to get acquainted.
The issue became public when Carr became the first Kansas House Democrat in 3 years to support a Republican bill to limit
transgender
A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth.
The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...
youth participation in sports—a vote directly opposite his predecessor's votes on the issue. He also voted for a bill that would mandate separation of people in such places as domestic violence shelters or rape crisis centers, based on sex they were assigned at birth. Constituents contacted ''The Beacon News'' to complain.
Investigating, the news outlet discovered that Carr had indicated he listened to the district's faith community, and prioritized representation of the African-Americans in his district (the third-largest number of African-Americans in any Kansas House district) -- but found little evidence of any effort by Carr to get input from anyone on the issue. And Carr declined to provide any evidence of it. When the bill was overturned by a gubernatorial
veto
A veto is a legal power to unilaterally stop an official action. In the most typical case, a president (government title), president or monarch vetoes a bill (law), bill to stop it from becoming statutory law, law. In many countries, veto powe ...
, Carr recanted his vote—but his recantation failed to prevent a GOP override of the veto, because another African-American representative,
Marvin Robinson
Marvin Leon St.Clair Robinson (born 11 April 1980) is an English former professional footballer who is the CEO of Hednesford Town.
Career
Robinson was born in Crewe, and went to school at Wolverhampton Grammar School from 1991 to 1998. While t ...
(D-Wyandotte County), voted for it.
Controversy
2023
In 2023, Carr was admonished for calling a fellow African-American Democratic legislator—Marvin Robinson (D-Wyandotte County) -- a "
house negro
A house slave was a slave who worked, and often lived, in the house of the slave-owner, performing domestic labor. House slaves performed essentially the same duties as all domestic workers throughout history, such as cooking, cleaning, serving m ...
", as a slur for that legislator's appearance of vote-trading with Republicans. Some House Republicans complained—and House GOP leaders alleged, in a letter of warning—that Carr's remarks were a violation of Kansas House rules forbidding questioning the motives of fellow legislators, during statements in meetings of the legislature. Carr remained unrepentant, dismissing the GOP admonishment as white legislators' efforts to silence a black legislator.Bahl, Andrew "Top Kansas legislative Republicans warn Democrat over controversial floor speech," May 31, 2023, ''
Topeka Capital-Journal
''The Topeka Capital-Journal'' is a daily newspaper in Topeka, Kansas, owned by Gannett.
History
The paper was formed following numerous name changes and mergers, including the merger of ''The Topeka Daily Capital'' and ''The Topeka State Jou ...
In January 2025 — during an informal gathering of Wichita-area state legislators, local officials, and lobbyists, at a Topeka bar — Carr was involved in an altercation (extensively documented by video"Video: Wichita leaders' argument becomes aggressive," (video and text), January 23, 2025, ''
Kansas State Network
KSNW (channel 3) is a television station in Wichita, Kansas, United States, affiliated with NBC and Telemundo. The station is owned by Nexstar Media Group, and maintains studios on North Main Street in northwest Wichita (near downtown); its trans ...
KAKE
KAKE (channel 10) is a television station in Wichita, Kansas, United States, affiliated with ABC and owned by Lockwood Broadcast Group. The station's studios are located on West Street in northwestern Wichita, and its transmitter is located i ...
-TV, retrieved January 27, 2025"Wichita elected officials argue in Topeka pub," (video) January 23, 2025, ''
Wichita Eagle
''The Wichita Eagle'' is a daily newspaper published in Wichita, Kansas, United States. Originating in the early 1870s, shortly after the city's founding, it is owned by The McClatchy Company and is the largest newspaper in Wichita and the surr ...
,'' retrieved January 27, 2025) with Wichita City Councilman Brandon Johnson. The two had argued over the pace of state and local funding for a public health issue in an area of Wichita that both men represented. Media reported that audio in their video was redacted because of a racial slur Carr made, and other profanities.Gooch, Bonita "Wichita Elected Officials Get in Fight in Topeka Last night," January 23, 2025, ''The Community Voice,'' retrieved January 27, 2025 When other officials attempted to separate the two, video indicates that Carr apparently knocked one of them down: 73-year-old State Rep.
Wichita Eagle
''The Wichita Eagle'' is a daily newspaper published in Wichita, Kansas, United States. Originating in the early 1870s, shortly after the city's founding, it is owned by The McClatchy Company and is the largest newspaper in Wichita and the surr ...
Topeka Capital-Journal
''The Topeka Capital-Journal'' is a daily newspaper in Topeka, Kansas, owned by Gannett.
History
The paper was formed following numerous name changes and mergers, including the merger of ''The Topeka Daily Capital'' and ''The Topeka State Jou ...
,'' retrieved January 27, 2025
Topeka Police were called, but when they arrived, Kansas Highway Patrol had already responded, and determined that none of the parties wanted to file charges.
Afterward, in response to media inquiries, Johnson declined comment on the event, except to say that the "event will be properly investigated," and to claim "positive efforts and progress" on the issue they argued about.
Several witnesses blamed Carr for the altercation. But Carr, defiant, blamed Johnson for instigating the conflict with a gesture—Carr adding that he would "always escalate that aggression to... match the energy with... equal or greater force." He added that if getting "physical" is what he has to do "in defense of my people," he was prepared to do that. Carr implied he was just "look ngout for my community," and criticized the pace that the issue was being addressed. He nevertheless expressed regret for Helgerson's fall, saying his intent was not to hurt Helgerson, but to get him "out of the way."
The incident sparked suggestions of Carr's expulsion from the House, and House Minority (Democratic) Leader Brandon Woodard (D-Lenexa), issued a statement saying their caucus is "taking the issue seriously"—but said "no hearings have been called," nor any "decisions made about repercussions."