Rubuta ci gaba ga wannan sakin layi - Harding ya fara shekaru hudu a matsayin sanata na jihar a matsayin sanannen siyasa; 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 kisan McKinley
a watan Satumba (aka gaje shi da Mataimakin Shugaban kasa Theodore Roosevelt), 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.