Amid growing tensions with the French Republic following the XYZ Affair and outbreak of the Quasi-War with France, Jay easily won re-election.

Governor John Jay was sworn into office on July 1, 1798, but quickly became personally unpopular throughout the country when news of the treaty he negotiated with Great Britain became public in the United States.

Public displays of violent opposition to the treaty erupted, including a burning effigy of Governor Jay in Philadelphia.

Opposition was so strong that Jay's Federalist Party lost a congressional election in their stronghold of New York City.

[9] By the time the spring 1798 elections approached, the XYZ Affair and Quasi-War appeared to vindicate the Jay Treaty and the Federalists' opposition to the French Republic, which became unpopular in the state.