 He was also a delegate to the Republican State conventions in 1936 and 1938, and vice president of the Dallas County Farm Bureau in 1939 and 1940.On March 5, 1940, Goodwin was elected as a Republican to the Seventy-sixth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Cassius C. Dowell.He was not a candidate for renomination in 1940, although a cadre of supporters attempted to draft him to break a deadlock in the nominating convention.