In 1922 she was vice-chairman of the Republican state central committee, and in 1923 was president of the Wisconsin Woman's Progressive Association but left the organization when Robert M. La Follette Sr. insisted on supporting Governor John J. Blaine.

During the 1920s, James was also engaged in a series of slander suits with Levi H. Bancroft growing out of her support of S. E. Smalley for the Republican nomination for a Wisconsin circuit judgeship.

Active in social work, she administered the David G. James Memorial Fund established in 1922 for the relief of needy families in Richland County, Wisconsin.

In 1911, she was a founding member of the statewide Political Equality League and served as its president for two years, including the crucial state referendum fight of 1912.

James used unprecedented tactics, hiring a motorboat to distribute leaflets along the Wolf River and employing an airplane to drop brochures on county fair crowds in the campaign.

Although the WSA continued its work, World War I, which the United States entered in April 1917, created the conditions that compelled President Woodrow Wilson to support women's suffrage.

With the suffrage battle finally won, Ada James devoted the remainder of her life to numerous other causes: temperance, pacifism, world peace, and assistance for underprivileged children.