Kammala jumla mai zuwa: Harding ya fara shekaru hudu a matsayin sanata na jihar a matsayin wanda ba a san shi ba; ya ƙare su a matsayin daya daga cikin shahararrun mutane a Jam'iyyar Republican Ohio. A koyaushe yana nuna nutsuwa da nuna tawali'u, halayen da suka sa ya zama ƙaunatacce ga 'yan Republican' yan Republican ko da yake ya wuce su a matsayinsa na siyasa. Shugabannin majalisa suna tuntuɓarsa a kan matsaloli masu wuya. Ya kasance al'ada a wancan lokacin ga sanatocin jihohi a Ohio don yin aiki ne kawai, amma Harding ya sami sakewa a 1901. Bayan da
kisan McKinley a watan Satumba (Wani mataimakin shugaban kasa Theodore Roosevelt ya gaje shi), yawancin sha'awar siyasa ya ɓace a Ohio na ɗan lokaci. A watan Nuwamba, Harding ya lashe wa'adi na biyu, fiye da ninka nasarar da ya samu zuwa kuri'u 3,563.