In 1879 he was elected to the 1st Dane County district of the Wisconsin House of Representatives (the Towns of Berry, Black Earth, Blue Mounds, Cross Plains, Dane, Fitchburg, Mazomanie, Middleton, Montrose, Perry, Primrose, Roxbury, Springdale, Springfield, Verona, Vermont and Westport) as a Democrat, with 1748 votes to 537 for IndependentGreenbacker John E. Brumm and 460 for Republican D. H. Eastman, for the 1880 term (incumbent Matthias Theisen, also a Democrat, was not a candidate).[2] He was assigned to the standing committee on privileges and elections.[3] He did not run for re-election, and was succeeded by fellow Democrat Samuel James Coldwell.[4]