 Ernst tried to resurrect the issues of Barkley's support for the coal tax and opposition to parimutuel betting, but in the general election, Barkley won by a vote of 287,997 to 266,657.In the Senate, Barkley was assigned to the Committee on the Library, and the committees on Finance and Banking and Currency; later, he was added to the Commerce Committee.In early 1928, Vice President Charles G. Dawes assigned him to a special committee to investigate the campaign expenditures of the leading candidates in the upcoming presidential election.