Abe's first major storyline was when he was the police officer who investigated Anna Brady's claims that she was sold into white slavery, and reported the existence of her secret Swiss bank account to her husband, Roman. He played in the background for awhile until a pretty woman named Nikki Wade was hired to be a secretary for the Salem PD. She appeared to be a normal, average girl, but actually came from an extremely wealthy and respected family. Their relationship fizzled to a halt when he stood her up at a debutante ball to go on a drug bust, not realizing that the dealer was actually an undercover Roman. The two had a long, drawn out argument because neither knew what the other was doing. Sometime in the years after Nikki (and before being promoted to police captain), Abe met and married fellow cop Alexandra Brooks. Abe was later promoted to police commander when Roman used illegal methods to catch criminal Rafe Torres.

For a long time Abe was on the back-burner, appearing only seldom in his capacity as a police officer. A brief storyline involving his wife's growing fascination with his brother, Jonah, mostly left Abe out of the loop. His next major storyline involved the Aremid wedding of Peter Blake and Jennifer Deveraux. Abe was caught up in the investigation of Tony DiMera's murder, while his wife, Lexie, was searching Aremid's adoption records for her file. Abe supported his wife when she learned that Frankie Brooks (a.k.a. Celeste Perrault), whom she'd always thought to be her aunt, was really her mother, but was less supporting when they learned that Stefano DiMera was in actuality her birth father. Abe was even less pleased with Stefano when he and Lexie had to go to Paris to find Stefano and Marlena, whom he had kidnapped. Abe, Lexie, John, Kristen, and René (a French gendarme who was a friend of John's) spent the night at a ball that John had set up looking for Marlena, but Stefano anticipated this, and had a lot of Marlena impersonators present. Abe and Lexie managed to save Kristen and Rachel from an underground explosion, but when Rachel Blake realized Stefano was about to get away, she shot at him near a gas tank, and the tank exploded. Stefano and Rachel were presumed dead. When Abe finally caught up with Stefano, he was unable to prosecute him, because only Stefano had the drug that would save Roman's life. Abe, Lexie, and John helped break Stefano out of jail. He was pardoned for his crimes after returning to Salem with the drug Roman needed.

Shortly after, a young man named Brandon Walker showed up in town. He had an inexplicable hatred for Abe that he didn't understand. He was the driving force behind a young man named Larry suing Abe. Larry was a young man that, years before, Abe had shot and paralyzed while on the job. Abe couldn't understand what Brandon's problem with him was until Brandon's mother, Fay, who Abe had known years before, explained to him that Brandon had seen them together, and had blamed Abe for the break-up of their family. At the same time, he was going through troubles with Lexie. The underlying pain in Abe and Lexie's relationship was always their inability to conceive a child. The two finally agreed to discuss adoption, and Stefano arranged for them to meet a young woman named Marlo, and to adopt her baby. Abe and Lexie had just gotten baby Isaac home when more troubles struck...Abe misunderstood a situation involving Brady Black playing cowboys and Indians (he was currently wanted by the police), and shot him. Brady spent a long time without the usage of his legs, and even sued the police force.

Abe and Lexie were heartbroken when it was revealed that the son they had been raising was Bo and Hope's son when his birth father came to town to claim him. Although they originally tried to keep him, when Abe realized what this was doing to Lexie he signed custody over to Bo and Hope. He and Lexie separated briefly because he couldn't reconcile himself to his wife turning into a true DiMera. They reconciled before long, and when Lexie realized she was pregnant, they were overjoyed. On the day Lexie was due to give birth, Brandon Walker burst in proclaiming that he was Abe's son. Not long after, Abe learned that Lexie had slept with Brandon, and he could be the father of little Theo! Luckily, Abe was the father, and before Brandon left town, he and Abe were able to embrace each other as father and son. Abe was just beginning to enjoy being a full-time father for the first time when he was shot dead the day of his son's christening, the first victim of the 2003 Salem serial killer.

Months later Abe turned up on a remote tropical island, a complete replica of Salem, desperate to get back to Lexie before she could move on (no explanation for why his ghost appeared in Salem after his 'death'). He worked together with Roman and later John to try to get off the island. They were successful in escaping the island, but not all of them made it back to Salem. Abe was reunited with Lexie and Theo, thrilled to see his son in person for the first time since the day of this christening, but soon began having vision problems. He was devastated to learn that he could soon be completely blind, and was more determined than ever to spend as much time as he could with his family while he could still see them. Abe was thrilled when his son, Brandon, came home for Thanksgiving for a brief visit. After Brandon left, though, things began going downhill for Abe. He lost his vision completely and learned he was impotent, and often became angry with Lexie very easily. He began accusing her of wanting to sleep with Tek, even though she hadn't done so (at that time). A short time later, though, Abe and Lexie both decided their marriage was important to them, and that they wanted to work it out.

Abe was devastated when Lexie was believed dead in a horrible car accident. Shortly after, his eyesight began to deteriorate again, and Abe had to undergo a second transplant. Not long after, it was discovered that Lexie was really alive, and had been held hostage in the tunnels under Salem for a number of months. The two were reunited and began looking forward to a future again raising their son Theo.

Abe and Lexie began noticing that Theo was having problems playing with other children. After several tests, Theo was diagnosed with autism. Devastated, Abe and Lexie went to counseling and worked through their problems. The therapy helped. Abe's new look on life did cause him to make some serious changes.

First, Abe finally vented his frustrations over Lexie's infidelities and was able to forgive her. Second, Abe got so frustrated with the corruption at city hall, lead by Mayor Marino, that Abe decided to quit his job as the police commissioner and run for mayor. In November 2008, Abe Carver was elected the mayor of Salem. He appointed Bo as the police commissioner and vowed that together, he and Abe were going to finally bring down Stefano.

Abe was up for re-election in 2011 and it appeared that he would run unopposed. But, E.J. DiMera decided to enter the race. Abe hired Jennifer Horton to be his publicist. Together, they fought a clean campaign for a while. But, when the campaign appeared to get dirty, Jennifer presented Abe with a proposition - she had a reporter friend who could get Abe the debate questions ahead of time. Abe agreed to go forward with it, and Jennifer arranged for the questions to be delivered. Additionally, during a visit to the DiMera mansion for Sydney's birthday party, Abe switched E.J.'s set of questions with a set of dummy questions. On the day of the debate, Abe was well prepared and won the debate.

On election day, it appeared that Abe had won the election. Jennifer and Abe were thrilled. But soon allegations of ballot tampering were brought against the two. They were arrested and E.J. was declared the winner of the election. Lexie was furious with Abe at first, but eventually forgave him. With Lexie back by his side, Abe was determined to fight the charges.

In spring 2012, Lexie learned that she had a long-lost brother. Celeste had another child who had been kept from her and the family for years. Lexie and Cameron were thrilled to meet, and Cameron quickly formed a bond with Lexie and her family. But they did not have much time to spend together as Lexie was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor.

After some research, Abe learned that the brain tumor could have been caused by extended exposure to fumes like those present in the underground tunnels where Andre kept Lexie prisoner. Even though Stefano didn't personally lock Lexie in the tunnels, he knew that Andre was dangerous and thus felt a great responsibility for Lexie's tumor. Lexie forgave Stefano and made peace with him. When Stefano was fatally shot a few weeks later, Lexie helped plan his memorial service.

Lexie opted not to go forward with any treatment, but to spend her remaining time doing things that she likes with people that she loves. Abe and E.J. recreated France in the town square so that Lexie could have her day in "Paris." Friends came to the Carver house to share memories with Lexie. Lexie made scrapbooks and videos for Theo and Abe to watch after she died. And, she also left instructions for all of her friends to watch out for Theo and Abe.

As Lexie grew weaker, she spent more and more time at home. Finally, Lexie died in Abe's arms while the two of them sat together in their garden. A few days later, friends and family gathered to say goodbye to Lexie in a memorial service that consisted of dancing, poetry, and laughter.

Abe picked up the pieces and looked towards raising Theo. Abe also served as a consultant for the Salem P.D. and even served as temporary Commissioner when Roman had to step down for a brief time. He continued on with the police in a special capacity, as needed.

Abe's personal life picked up as well when he began spending more time with Maxine Landis, head nurse of Salem U Hospital. Abe and Maxine bonded over the grief of losing a spouse and enjoyed spending time together, but their relationship never became serious.

In September 2015, Abe was asked to take over as mayor of Salem again. Abe agreed. Part of his duties involved overseeing the police department. There, he met a new police officer, Lani Price. Lani was determined to make detective. She also seemed to have a strong connection to Abe. It turned out that Lani was Abe's daughter with Tamara Price. Abe was thrilled to learn he had a daughter and began forming a bond with Lani.