Attempting a political comeback, Daves ran for the United States Senate in 1970 but placed last among the five Democratic primary candidates.

[6] In 1960, former FBI agent and assistant county solicitor John Hiatt challenged Daves for reelection in the Democratic primary.

[9] Notably, while serving as county solicitor, he filed charges against Richard Paul Pavlick on December 30, 1960.

[4] On June 10, 1970, Daves declared his candidacy in the Democratic primary for the United States Senate election held on September 8; incumbent Spessard Holland was retiring.

[13] He called the war "idiotic" and said it "defeats every constructive effort to restore our national sanity and heal our wounds".

Daves believed in refining foreign policy to change the mindset of viewing communism as an international conspiracy.

[17] After losing the 1970 U.S. Senate election, Daves served as an attorney with Sylvan Burdick from 1971 to 1989, before opening his own practice, which struggled financially.

[19] His campaign focused on crime reduction and efforts to stop downtown decay, but suggested no additional public money should be spent on improvements.

[22] In February 1992, following the announcement of the retirement of Helen Wilkes, Daves declared his candidacy for her city commission seat, the 3rd district.

His campaign called for revising the city charter – particularly in regard to the mayor's powers – reforming the police department, and promoting economic development.