John Armstrong had been re-elected in January 1801 to a full term (1801–1807), but resigned on February 5, 1802.
At the last state election, George Clinton had been elected Governor again, serving now his seventh term, and his Democratic-Republican Party had won a large majority to the Assembly which could outvote the small Federalist Senate majority in a joint ballot.
Burr affirmed that Thomas Tillotson, a brother-in-law of Chancellor Robert R. Livingston like Armstrong, was appointed Secretary of State of New York in 1801 as part of a deal which required Tillotson to procure Armstrong's resignation.
State Senator DeWitt Clinton ran as the candidate of the Democratic-Republican Party.
This was the first time that a joint ballot was necessary to choose between the nominees of different majorities in the houses of the Legislature.