Drew ran unsuccessfully against Nathaniel Higinbotham for the federal seat in 1872, 1874 and 1875 before defeating him in 1878. In 1882, he was named judge for Wellington County; later that same year, he was named judge in the High Court of Justice for Ontario.*A cyclopædia of Canadian biography : brief biographies of persons ..., HW Charlesworth (1919) Drew died while still a judge at the age of 65.
