Løvlien stood for parliamentary election in 1930 and 1933, but unsuccessfully. In 1931, he was again elected to the municipal council. He was re-elected in 1934, and in the same year he became the party secretary of the Communist Party nationwide. Due to this position, he was also a member of the party's central committee, and served as a member of the board of the party newspaper "Arbeideren" from 1934. From 1936 he was also a member of the party politburo. He left all positions in 1940, the year that Norway was invaded by Nazi Germany, and the Communist Party declared illegal.