He spoke in favor of states' rights, referring to the federal government as a "central despotism," and criticized the manner in which the Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments had been ratified. In response, Wisener sarcastically stated that since he was now a "proven" rebel, he expected large numbers of Democratic votes in the election. He criticized Brown for not recording most of his votes at the 1870 constitutional convention, and noted that one of his few public votes had been for the poll tax. On election day (November 8, 1870), Wisener, who had described his campaign as a "forlorn hope," was badly defeated, 78,979 to 41,500. It was the beginning of a long period of dominance in state politics by the Democratic Party. Republicans would control the governor's office for just two of the next forty years, and eight of the next one hundred years. In December 1870, a few weeks after Wisener's defeat in the race for governor, his son, William H. Wisener, Jr. (1840–1880), was involved in a violent altercation with future "Nashville Banner" publisher, E.B. Stahlman (1843–1930). The two had been squabbling over a fee at the Southern Express Company, where Stahlman worked at the time, when Wisener, Jr., drew a gun and shot Stahlman. A coworker of Stahlman then shot Wisener, Jr., seriously wounding him. The younger Wisener was convicted of the assault and sentenced to prison, but was pardoned by Governor Dewitt Clinton Senter. Although he never again held elected office, Wisener remained active in politics for the rest of his life. He was a delegate to the 1872 Republican National Convention in Philadelphia, and campaigned as an elector for President Grant later that year. Wisener ran for the 5th district seat in Congress in 1874, but was easily defeated by the Democratic incumbent, John Morgan Bright, 10,224 votes to 3,831. He unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for governor in 1876, and was a delegate to the 1880 Republican National Convention in Chicago. Wisener worked as Shelbyville's postmaster during the last years of his life. He died on Christmas Eve, 1882. He is interred in Shelbyville's Willow Mount Cemetery.