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From 1955 to 1958, he was a member of the elected Little Rock School Board during the [[Segregation|desegregation]] of Little Rock Central High School. He was also an appointed member of the trustees of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

From 1955 to 1958, he was a member of the elected Little Rock School Board during the [[Segregation|desegregation]] of Little Rock Central High School. He was also an appointed member of the trustees of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

Alford was elected to Congress as a write-in candidate in the 1958 [[general election]]. The next successful write-in candidate elected to the House was the  [[conservative]] [[Republican Party|Republican]] [[Joe Skeen]], who won in [[New Mexico]] in 1980. Alford jumped into the election against [[incumbent]] U.S. Representative [[Brooks Hays]], who had endorsed the integration of Little Rock public education. Alford ran almost entirely on Hays' support for civil rights. Alford supporters printed thousands of stickers with his name on them and handed them out at polling places. Hays maintained a lead during the counting until an extra twenty boxes arrived bearing ballots with Alford stickers. Ultimately, Alford prevailed, 30,739 (51 percent) to Hays' 29,483 (49 percent).<ref>Billy Hathorn, ''The Republican Party in Arkansas, 1920-1982'' (College Station, Texas|College Station]], [[Texas]], Texas A&M University history dissertation, 1983), pp. 168-170.</ref>

Alford was elected to Congress as a write-in candidate in the 1958 [[general election]]. The next successful write-in candidate elected to the House was the  [[conservative]] [[Republican Party|Republican]] [[Joe Skeen]], who won in [[New Mexico]] in 1980. Alford jumped into the election against [[incumbent]] U.S. Representative [[Brooks Hays]], who had endorsed the integration of Little Rock public education. Alford ran almost entirely on opposition towards Hays' racial moderation. Alford supporters printed thousands of stickers with his name on them and handed them out at polling places. Hays maintained a lead during the counting until an extra twenty boxes arrived bearing ballots with Alford stickers. Ultimately, Alford prevailed, 30,739 (51 percent) to Hays' 29,483 (49 percent).<ref>Billy Hathorn, ''The Republican Party in Arkansas, 1920-1982'' (College Station, Texas|College Station]], [[Texas]], Texas A&M University history dissertation, 1983), pp. 168-170.</ref>

In 1960, Alford won his second term in the House with 57,617 votes (82.7 percent) to Republican L. J. Churchill (1902-1987) of Dover in Pope County in northwestern Arkansas, who received only 12,054 ballots (17.3 percent) though [[Richard M. Nixon]] polled 43 percent in his losing race to [[John F. Kennedy]] for the Arkansas [[electoral votes]]. Churchill was a highly regarded civic and political figure in Dover. A Cumberland [[Presbyterian]](a conservative denomination) and a Mason, he was elected to the positions of [[mayor]] of Dover and member of the municipal school board, both offices nonpartisan.<ref name=ljc/><ref>Hathorn, p. 192.</ref>

In 1960, Alford won his second term in the House with 57,617 votes (82.7 percent) to Republican L. J. Churchill (1902-1987) of Dover in Pope County in northwestern Arkansas, who received only 12,054 ballots (17.3 percent) though [[Richard M. Nixon]] polled 43 percent in his losing race to [[John F. Kennedy]] for the Arkansas [[electoral votes]]. Churchill was a highly regarded civic and political figure in Dover. A Cumberland [[Presbyterian]](a conservative denomination) and a Mason, he was elected to the positions of [[mayor]] of Dover and member of the municipal school board, both offices nonpartisan.<ref name=ljc/><ref>Hathorn, p. 192.</ref>

===Two gubernatorial races===

===Two gubernatorial races===

Alford's Little Rock-based district was merged with the 2nd district of chairman [[Wilbur Mills]], long-term chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee,  after the 1960 census revealed that Arkansas had grown at less than the national average during the 1950s. Rather than face certain defeat in the 1962 Democratic primary against Mills, at the time an icon in Arkansas politics, Alford instead chose to enter the primary against incumbent [[Governor]] [[Orval Faubus|Orval Eugene Faubus]], who polled a majority over Alford, former Governor Sidney Sanders "Sid" McMath, Vernon H. Whitten, and two other candidates. Faubus polled 208,996 ballots (51.6 percent) to McMath's 83,437 (20.6 percent), Alford's 82,815 (20.4 percent), and Whitten's 22,377 (5.5 percent). Faubus then prevailed with ease over the Republican nominee [[Willis Ricketts]], a pharmacist from Fayetteville who ran on a "reform" agenda.<ref>Hathorn, pp. 198, 200.</ref>  

Alford's Little Rock-based district was merged with the 2nd district of chairman [[Wilbur Mills]], long-term chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee,  after the 1960 census revealed that Arkansas had grown at less than the national average during the 1950s. Rather than face certain defeat in the 1962 Democratic primary against Mills, at the time an icon in Arkansas politics, Alford instead chose to enter the primary against incumbent [[Governor]] [[Orval Faubus|Orval Eugene Faubus]], who polled a majority over Alford, former Governor Sidney Sanders "Sid" McMath, Vernon H. Whitten, and two other candidates. Faubus polled 208,996 ballots (51.6 percent) to McMath's 83,437 (20.6 percent), Alford's 82,815 (20.4 percent), and Whitten's 22,377 (5.5 percent). Faubus then prevailed with ease over the Republican nominee [[Willis Ricketts]], a pharmacist from Fayetteville who ran on a "reform" agenda.<ref>Hathorn, pp. 198, 200.</ref>