[3][4] In 1928, he did not run for re-election, choosing to throw his hat in the ring for the state's attorney general position.

[1] However, he came in a distant fourth in a four-man race in the Democrat primary behind A. R. Lynch, John L. Sullivan, and the eventual winner, K. Berry Peterson.

[5] In 1930, he was nominated by the Democrats to run for the Arizona State Senate, seeking the seat from Mohave County.

Coincidently, his father, Anson Smith, was nominated to run for the lone seat in the Arizona House of Representatives from Mohave County.

[6][7] He ran for re-election in 1932, but was defeated in the Democrat primary by Kean St. Charles, who had held the seat during the 9th Arizona State Legislature.