Alongside other followers of Brătianu (including Garabet Ibrăileanu), Stere began campaigning in favor of dismissing the Conservative cabinet of Premier Gheorghe Grigore Cantacuzino, at a time when the latter also faced Take Ionescu's dissidence. This coincided with the outbreak of the 1907 Peasants' Revolt, which managed to bring down the cabinet after Ionescu agreed to support the Dimitrie Sturdza's return to power, as a means to ensure a response to the troubles. Like many other "generous ones", Stere was integrated in the new administration, and became a prefect of Iași County; instead of calling in the Romanian Army to pacify the area, he interfered in landowner-peasant relations to ensure better conditions for the latter, thus causing alarm in the Conservative camp. Although no violent reprisal against the rebels was recorded in his prefecture, his association with the repressive cabinet was the topic of criticism from many of his former allies, most notably Constantin Dobrogeanu-Gherea, Paul Bujor, and Constantin Mille. Together with his deputy prefect Gheorghe Gh. Mârzescu, Stere resigned his position in April and was replaced with Gheorghe Kernbach, preparing to run in the legislative election of that year — for the 2nd Electoral College in Iași; he won the seat in late May.