Following the disputed presidential election of 1876, Carpenter was hired by supporters of the Democratic candidate Samuel J. Tilden to examine Louisiana's vote counts and argue for victory over Republican Rutherford B. Hayes. Carpenter's first-hand accounts of the corrupt Republican state administration gave the Democrats some reason for hope, but ultimately the partisan make-up of the special electoral commission (7 Republicans, 6 Democrats) and its refusal to look behind the certified counts made many of their rulings a forgone conclusive win for Hayes.