[1] The centre-left Labor Party, led by Chief Minister Andrew Barr, which had been in government in the territory since the 2001 election, and in coalition with the progressive Greens since 2012, sought to win a seventh consecutive term in office.

Labor was attempting to win re-election for a seventh consecutive term (either with a majority of seats or via forming a coalition with another party) in the 25-member unicameral Legislative Assembly.

[32] Opposition Leader Elizabeth Lee launched the Canberra Liberals' campaign on 5 October, alongside former Chief Minister Kate Carnell.

[39][40] Much of the messaging of opposition candidates focused on the fact that the Labor Party have led the Government of the Australian Capital Territory for the last 23 years.

On 25 September, Liberal candidate Darren Roberts was accused by Labor of posting offensive content online related to the Voice to Parliament and dual naming, using a pseudonym account.

[45][46] On 3 October, reports emerged that Liberal MLA Peter Cain, when he worked as a schoolteacher in 2002, wrote a workbook on Australian history that presented a Christian white savior narrative and did not mention the frontier wars.

[47][48][49] On 10 October, Greens candidate Harini Rangajaran was found to have written a blog post about martyrdom in 2023, a creative writing exercise that made mention of idolising Osama bin Laden.

[53][54][55] Lastly, on 16 October, Opposition Leader Elizabeth Lee made headlines when she was filmed giving the finger to a journalist at the end of a combative press conference.