John Moher became an elected member of Cork County Council in 1950. He went on to contest the general election in 1951 but was unsuccessful and two years later suffered the same fate in a by-election.
However, a strong campaign saw him elected a TD to represent the Cork East constituency in the 1954 general election. He held his seat with his biggest vote in 1957 (6,628) and was again successful in the 1961 general election taking his place in the 17th Dail.
His fate would change four years later however, losing out in the 1965 general election and this, despite being able to claim credit for bringing the Dairy Research Centre (‘The Institute’) to Moorepark.