 He briefly joined the People's Party or Populists, served on its state executive committee in the mid-1890s, and worked with them for a time to build an alliance with African American voters.Although disillusioned with his new allies because of the "fusion" rule between Populists and Republicans in the state legislature in 1895, he was a delegate to the national Populist convention in 1896 where he worked to gain the party's nomination of the Democratic slate (William J. Bryan and Arthur Sewall) that year.He returned to the Democratic party, now one of "white men and white metal" (silver), both important issues to him.