In 1908, Kitts unsuccessfully ran for county school superintendent. He ran for district attorney in 1910, but was also defeated. In 1913, Kitts won the election for membership on the City of Erie General Assembly. During the mayoral elections of 1915, the Democratic candidate Bernard Veit defeated incumbent mayor William J. Stern but died before he could be sworn in. Former mayor and Erie's Democratic "political boss" Michael Liebel gave the Democratic nomination to Kitts. A special election was held on February 20, 1916. Under the rules of the special election, a candidate needed 4,840 votes to win. Kitts lost by a margin of 204 votes and had to face Stern in a run-off election. The run-off election was held on February 29. Even more strange was that the Republican Kitts was running on a Democratic "ticket", while his opponent, Stern, was a Democrat running on a Republican ticket.
Accomplishments
One of biggest accomplishments of Kitts's administration was the installation of the "Mill Creek tube". It was designed to prevent the Mill Creek from flooding downtown Erie, as it had on August 3, 1915. Kitts also put into action the building of the Perry Monument on Presque Isle to commemorate the Battle of Lake Erie. During World War I, Kitts was known to personally send off every train carrying troops destined for Europe that left from Erie. Kitts also introduced ordinances to reorganize the Erie Police Department and increased the chief's salary to $2,100 a year.
Scandal
When the Prohibition went into effect in 1920, "the only dry thing in Erie was the inside of a light bulb." Speakeasies, casinos, and brothels were commonplace in Erie before Kitts took office, but when Kitts was elected the situation got out of hand. Reformists in the Republican party did not approve of this. When the 1920 mayoral election came up, the reformers supported their own candidate but Kitts was re-elected. The reformers became known as the "Committee of Sixteen" and demanded Erie's numerous "vices" be cleaned up. A grand jury was formed and most of the city government came under investigation, with over a hundred witnesses called to testify, including 47 members of the Erie Police Department. Kitts would have indicted but the charges were dismissed because women had been members of the grand jury. Kitts continued to serve as mayor until 1924 and did not seek re-election again. Kitts said:
