 He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Michigan Supreme Court in 1887.In November 1893, Griffin was elected a Democrat from Michigan's 1st congressional district to the Fifty-third Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of John Logan Chipman, serving from December 4, 1893 to March 3, 1895.He was an unsuccessful candidate for re-election in 1894, losing to Republican John Blaisdell Corliss.