With the support of President Andrew Jackson, Van Buren won the presidential nomination unanimously.

Johnson narrowly won the two-thirds majority necessary for the vice presidential nomination, overcoming a challenge from William Cabell Rives of Virginia.

On February 23, 1835, President Andrew Jackson wrote to James Gwin of Tennessee and claimed a preference for someone who would "most likely to be the choice of the great body of republicans" in regard to his successor.

Jackson and other major Democrats had settled on Richard Mentor Johnson, a Kentucky representative who had fought in the War of 1812, as Van Buren's running mate, but many Virginia Democrats backed William Cabell Rives, the former Ambassador to France.

While the electors of Virginia supported Van Buren for the presidency, they cast their vice presidential votes for William Smith.