Baca became politically active in the area, lending his support to the Republican party. He supported the Republican candidates because he felt that it aligned with his Catholic faith, and that Mexicans who supported Democrats were "betraying" their religion. Despite his support for Republicans, in 1871, Baca and Jose Manuel Gallegos, who was a Democrat, shared an intense opposition to French control over New Mexico's parishes. Gallegos went on to lose an election because his alignment with Catholicism seemed to suggest to his opponents that his loyalty was to Mexico rather than to the United States. After this, Baca viewed Gallegos as a threat to Mexican Catholics due to his political stance. Baca encouraged "loyal Catholics" to vote for Gallegos' opponent, believing that this would allow Baca and the other Mexican American priests to continue to hold jurisdiction over the southern New Mexico parishes.