In his inaugural address, Gordon stressed the need to improve the health conditions of the workers in the city's vibrant quarrying industry, saying "Something has to be done to improve the health conditions in the granite sheds, for men are learning that high wages don’t mean much if you are down and out at fifty.

He first ran for mayor in 1912 and nearly won, except the city's Central Labor Union endorsed James Mutch, who was an independent and member of the influential Granite Cutters' International Association.

Both Mutch and Gordon lost and Board of Trade chairman Lucius Thurston was elected mayor.

After one term in office, in his policies were highly contested, Gordon retired from politics.

Like other stone-cutters, Gordon suffered from ill-health and died of tuberculosis at the age of 56 at a Lynn, Massachusetts sanitarium.