Between his House terms, he became embroiled in the Broad Seal War, a legal contest over the results of the 1838 New Jersey elections.

[1] The new 1844 New Jersey State Constitution provided for direct election of a governor for a single three-year term.

Stratton ran on the Whig ticket, and campaigned on a platform opposing the powerful railroad interests of the state.

The Democratic candidate was Pennsylvania-born John R. Thomson, who was a stockholder in the railroad and a vigorous advocate of internal improvements.

Charles C. Stratton House, was built in 1791 and added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 29, 1973.