Simmons was elected as a Whig to the Thirty-third Congress and reelected as an Opposition Party candidate to the Thirty-fourth Congress (March 4, 1853 – March 3, 1857).
Simmons was selected for the Thirty-third Congress as a member of the Whig party and later re-elected in the Thirty-fourth Congress under the Opposition Party label (March 4, 1853 – March 3, 1857).