delegates representing Marion, Preston, Monongalia and Taylor Counties at the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1850, Willey argued in favor of universal suffrage for white men, and also believed that eastern Virginian elites dominated political power in the state. His speech "Liberty and Union" brought him broader attention. In 1852, Willey became the Whig candidate for Congress, but lost. In 1859 Willey became the Whig delegate for Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, but lost. The following year he campaigned for Everett and Bell of the Constitutional Union Party in the 1860 Presidential election. His candidates lost badly, and Republican Abraham Lincoln was elected president. American Civil War and West Virginia statehood Elected a member of the Virginia Secession Convention in 1861 (representing Monongalia County, alongside J.M. Heck and Marshall M. Dent), Willey warned fellow delegates about the ravages of civil war. Although Willey voted against secession several times during the convention, the ordinance of secession eventually passed and Virginia seceded on April 17, 1861. Although conservative (and a slaveowner), Willey actively participated at the First Wheeling Convention of May, 1861, which ultimately led to West Virginia statehood (although Willey had been among those who blocked John S. Carlile's proposal for immediate statehood). He did not seek election to the June Second Wheeling Convention, which established the Restored Government of Virginia, although he would soon be elected one of the new state's first two U.S. Senators (alongside Carlile). In April 1863, Willey was one of the targets of the Confederate Jones-Imboden raid to destroy the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad tracks and capture the Restored Government of Virginia at Wheeling. However, when Jones' troops moved into Kingwood and Morgantown, their attempt to destroy a suspension bridge over the Monongahela River failed and Willey escaped in a fast buggy into Pennsylvania, although the raiders continued to Fairmont and destroyed the library of Gov. Francis Pierpont. The Restored Government of Virginia elected him to the U.S. Senate to fill the vacancy of Senator James M. Mason, who had joined the Confederate cause. Willey (a Republican) became one of the first two U. S. Senators from West Virginia (1863–1871) (alongside Peter G. Van Winkle). On May 29, 1862, Willey presented the petition to Congress for the creation of West Virginia. In part because of a published abolitionist address by Rev. Gordon Battelle, it was accepted only after Willey offered an Amendment acceptable to Radical Republicans, which provided