Brough served two years as Clerk of the Ohio Senate (where he also served as the capital correspondent for his newspaper, as well as the "Ohio Statesman"). He was elected as a Democrat to the Ohio House of Representatives in 1837, representing the Fairfield-Hocking district, and served from 1838–39, chairing the Committee on Banks and Currency. He then took office as State Auditor, serving until 1845, when the Whigs swept most of the state's Democrats out of office in the Election of 1844.