Campbell was an alderman in
Sudbury and a member of the
Regional Municipality of Sudbury council from 1976 to 1987. He was elected to the Ontario legislature in the
1987 election, defeating Gordon (now the incumbent
Progressive Conservative MPP) by 2,630 votes in the riding of
Sudbury. He served as a backbench supporter of
David Peterson's government for the next three years. From 1987 to 1988, he served as
parliamentary assistant to the
Minister of Mines. He also chaired a special select committee on education reforms from October 1989 until the dissolution of the legislature for the
1990 provincial election. The Liberals were defeated by the
Ontario New Democratic Party in the 1990 election, and Campbell lost his seat to NDP candidate
Sharon Murdock by 3,397 votes. ==After politics==