[2] The incumbent Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick (PC) government, led by Premier Blaine Higgs since 2018, sought re-election to a third consecutive term.

The party was defeated by the New Brunswick Liberal Association, led by Susan Holt, with them set to form a majority government in a landslide victory.

[9] On March 30, 2022, Kris Austin and Michelle Conroy announced their departures from the People's Alliance to join the Progressive Conservatives explaining they believed they could better represent their ridings from within government.

[10][11] Premier and Progressive Conservative leader Blaine Higgs reiterated the party's support for official bilingualism when questioned about the People's Alliance's previous stances on the issue which were criticized by the Acadian Society of New Brunswick.

[26] After being released in November 2023, the 2022–23 report for fourth grade student literacy rates showed further decline, with 43.4% scoring "below appropriate achievement" after being assessed for English reading.

Among the concerns noted were "understaffed classrooms and overcrowded buildings, with uncertified community members, people without a bachelor of education, sometimes taking the place of actual teachers because of shortages."

Those who called for these issues to be addressed included Liberal leader Susan Holt as well as Kevin Arseneau, a Green MLA for Kent North.

[23] An audit which took place between January and February in 2024 concluded that the provincial Department of Education "lacks oversight on school bus safety and driver requirements.

[34][35] Francine Landry, the Liberal MLA for Madawaska Les Lacs-Edmundston, criticized the provincial government led by Higgs for "touting their record on keeping children safe, while failing to fulfil the most basic requirements for doing so."

The issue has been the subject of widespread coverage and dispute, and has been covered by major news publications including The Washington Post,[36] The New York Times,[37] and BBC.

[45] Following overcrowding at the Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital emergency room at the start of 2024, Green leader David Coon called for "immediate changes" as well as for the government to increase funding.

[46] According to Rob McKee, the Liberal health critic, 160,000 people in New Brunswick, or roughly 20 percent of the population, do not have a family doctor or nurse practitioner as of late May 2024.

[47] During the final session of the 60th legislature held on June 7, 2024, Higgs and Holt clashed during question period; one of the topics included the funding spent on travel nurses, amounting to nearly CA$174 million, which was revealed to have been "partly mismanaged" according to a report by the auditor general.

[48] Both the Liberal and Green parties made promises to re-launch research efforts into the province's mysterious neurological disease upon forming majority government.

[67] In August 2024, right-leaning lobbyist group Campaign Life Coalition mailed flyers to 160,000 homes in New Brunswick,[68] making the accusation that schools in the province are "pushing transgenderism".

[72] In April 2024, Outhouse was also hired as principal secretary to Premier Blaine Higgs, which is a taxpayer-funded position that will earn up to CA$124,656 during the six-month contract.

"[75] Jacques Poitras of CBC News described the Progressive Conservative campaign under Outhouse's contract as adopting "a more pointed, aggressive style of advertising against the opposition Liberals."

Jeff Carr, a Progressive Conservative MLA who previously announced that he would not be seeking candidacy in the election, criticized a post his party made targeting a 2014 quote by Holt regarding "closing some schools in the province."

[76] Blaine Higgs received critical attention for telling a joke about a deceased Liberal voter at the end of his campaign launch speech,[77] with Susan Holt describing it as "a complete lack of judgment on the premier's part".

[79] The Progressive Conservative campaign has consisted of promoting its promise to lower the harmonized sales tax (HST) from 15% to 13%,[80] and highlighting the fiscal surpluses under their government.

[86] The platform's costing table was flagged by media and criticized by the Progressive Conservatives for a seeming mistake that resulted in counting a portion of HST revenue twice.

Additionally, Coon proposed that he would be open to the idea of collaborating with the Liberals to prevent Higgs from remaining in power if an early election resulted in the PCs losing their majority.

Coon's negotiation proposal reflected his stance from the 2018 election when he was willing to talk with both parties, prior to the Progressive Conservatives securing the backing from the People's Alliance.

[95] On October 9, 2024, a leaders' debate between Holt, Coon, and Alex White took place at the Tom Morrison Theatre at Fredericton High School.