National Republican Governor Levi Lincoln Jr. was re-elected to a ninth term in office over Democrat Marcus Morton and Anti-Mason Samuel Lathrop.

The party positioned itself in opposition to Henry Clay, a Mason and the National Republican presidential candidate, by declaring him "far behind the ordinary standard of morals" with "no virtuous example in his private life."

[1] Democratic candidate Marcus Morton, who had campaigned actively in the preceding three elections, sought to withdraw his name but was persuaded to stay on the ticket by party leader David Henshaw.

Morton accepted his role as the state's advocate for the Andrew Jackson campaign but saw little hope of victory and privately expressed that he had no influence over anyone but his son Marcus Jr.[1] Jackson's veto of the renewal of the national bank charter and his declaration against concentrated wealth consolidated conservative elements against him and may have buoyed the National Republican vote in the state.

[1] Lincoln and Henry Clay carried the state with more than twice the vote of their nearest competitor, with the Democrats finishing third in both races.