Kammala wannan jumla: Sakamakon ra'ayoyinsa na adawa da bautar, Jenkins ya zama dan Republican lokacin da aka kafa jam'iyyar. A shekara ta 1856 ya yi aiki a matsayin wakili ga na farko
Taron Jam'iyyar Republican na kasa. A shekara ta 1857 shi ne dan takarar Republican wanda bai yi nasara ba don zama a kotun daukaka kara ta New York, ya rasa Hiram Denio. A shekara ta 1858 ya kasance dan takarar dan takarar Republican ga Gwamnan New York, kuma ya rasa Edwin D. Morgan, wanda ya ci gaba da lashe zaben.