Whakaotihia te rerenga e whai ake nei: I te tau 1871, i hinga a Stevenson i a Thomas C. McCreery mo tana nohoanga i te US Senate i muri i tana whakahe i a McCreery mo te whakapae i tautoko i te whakatuunga a Stephen G. Burbridge, i kinongia e te nuinga o nga Kentuckians, ki tetahi tuunga federal. I roto i te Senate, i whakahe ia ki nga whakapainga o roto me te tiaki i te tirohanga hangahanga o te kaupapa ture, e aukati ana i nga mahi ki te whakawhānui i nga mana i tukuna i roto i taua tuhinga. I te mutunga o te tau 1873, ko Stephenson te tumuaki tuatahi (i muri mai ka kiia ko te kaiarahi papa) o te Senate Democratic caucus. Kaore ia i whai kia kowhiria ano i te tau 1877, ka hoki ki tana mahi ture me te whakaae ki te Kawana o Kentucky a William Goebel hei hoa ture. Ko ia te tumuaki o
1880 Democratic National Convention, a ko ia te perehitini o te American Bar Association i te tau 1884. I mate ia i Covington i te Akuhata 10, 1886, ka tanumia ki Spring Grove Cemetery i Cincinnati, Ohio.