John Edmonds was elected to the New York House of Assembly in 1830. In 1831, he was elected to the New York State Senate. Edmonds received “in his district, an unprecedented majority of over 7,500 votes.”^ Edmonds served in the Senate from 1831 to 1836, when he resigned for health reasons.

Edmonds was a leader in the New York State Senate. He served on the joint committee on South Carolina’s claim to tariff nullification, as chairman of the Committee on Canals, as chairman of the Bank Committee, and on the Court for the Corrections of Errors.^ He was unanimously elected as Senate President in his last term as a Senator.^ Canals and banks were probably the most prominent public issues in nineteenth-century New York. South Carolina’s stand on tariff nullification was a key national issue that contributed to the Civil War. Given Edmonds close ties to Martin Van Buren, Edmonds undoubtedly had great political influence.