In 1906 he was cited to appear before a district court judge to show why he had not approved the issuance of a warrant for the arrest of Joseph F. Smith, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, "on a charge of sustaining unlawful relations with one of his five wives.

He was president of the Popular Government League, organized in 1916, which argued for adopting the initiative and referendum in Utah.

In June 1920, Christensen was a delegate to the Chicago joint conventions of the Labor Party of the United States and the progressive Committee of Forty-Eight, whose leaders hoped to merge and to nominate a presidential ticket.

He campaigned for nationalization of railroads and utilities, an eight-hour working day, a federal Department of Education, and an end to the Espionage and Sedition Acts.

Christensen had the endorsement of the End Poverty in California movement when he won the Los Angeles City Council District 9 seat in 1935 from the incumbent, George W. C. Baker.

In the first years of his tenure, the 9th District covered the core of downtown Los Angeles, but later, it was shifted eastward to encompass an area with a heavily Hispanic population.

[citation needed] In 1936, Christensen ran for Congress against incumbent Democrat Charles Kramer, but was defeated in the primary 57% to 30%.