He ran for office for the first time in his own right in March 1984 against USW Treasurer Frank McKee. The campaign was hard-fought and competitive, with McKee criticizing Williams for never having himself worked in a steel mill. This critique was not decisive, however, as less than a third of the USW's members were at that time workers in steel plants, with the majority working under USW contracts in other industries. Williams carried Canada handily and received substantial support from historically radical District 31 (Chicago) and District 15 (Upper Ohio Valley) in tallying 193,686 votes to his rival's 135,823.