 She was a member of the Republican National Committee 1929-1943; delegate to the Republican National Conventions in 1924, 1932, 1936, 1940; delegate to the Republican State conventions in 1922, 1924, 1926, 1928, 1930, 1936, and 1938.She served as president of the Women's National Republican Club 1943-1946

She was elected as a Republican to the 71st and 72nd Congresses (1929–1933), being the first woman elected to Congress from New York, beating out her primary competitor Phelps Phelps.Together with Reed Smoot, she introduced the Pratt-Smoot Act, passed by the United States Congress, and signed into law by President Herbert Hoover on March 3, 1931.