After leaving school at seventeen, Cyrus Luce worked from 1841 until 1848 in a woolen mill, carding wool and dressing the unfinished cloth for sale.

In 1848, Luce was a Whig Party candidate for the Indiana House of Representatives for the district including Steuben and DeKalb counties.

He lost a close election, and in the same year he purchased 80 acres (320,000 m2) of uncultivated land near Gilead, Michigan, in Branch County, not far from the Indiana state line.

His first wife Julia died in August 1882, and Luce married Mary Thompson of Bronson, Michigan, in November 1883.

Running as a Republican candidate, Luce was elected Governor of Michigan in November 1886, defeating George L. Yaple, taking office on January 1, 1887.