 In 1890 he was elected to the City Council from the 5th Ward.He served one term, then ran for mayor on the Republican ticket, losing to Thomas E. Rowan in 1892.He was opposed in his race for mayor by the "Los Angeles Herald," which said of him that he was "openly hostile to a large class of teamsters, hackmen and others" and that he had "also favored a cut in the wages of day laborers in the public employ."