 A Republican, Carpenter was also on many occasions a member of the Ohio State Central Committee.In the Senate, he sat as chairman on the Committee on Agriculture and Penitentiary, and as a member of the Finance, Labor, Common Schools, School Land, Privileges and Elections, Benevolent Institutions, Agriculture, and Rules.His state political service was lauded by the Ohio State Board of Agriculture for his "active interest in the farmers; the agricultural societies, as bodies and as individuals, have never asked anything of him that he didn't take up with pleasure and desire to execute for their interests".