1832 United States presidential election in Georgia

The first political divisions in the state fell along the lines of personal support for outstanding leaders in their struggle for power. Many of these factions were usually held together through personal friendships and family associations. The two factions in the previous election were the Clark faction, followers of Ex-Governor John Clark, and the Troup faction, followers of Ex-Governor George Troup.^[2]

The Clark party had slowly begun dying out after the death of its candidate in the 1827 Georgia gubernatorial election and the removal of its leader, John Clark, from the state in the same year. The party's presidential ticket lost in 1828 and the party died out the same year. In its ashes rose the Union party, a product of the forces of liberal democracy that brought white manhood suffrage and popular elections in the 1800s.^[2]

By 1832 there was growing support among members of the Troup party and some members of the union party for Nullification. Despite this, both sides felt it was best to renominate Andrew Jackson for the presidentcy. They did not agree on, however, who should be the running mate. The Troup party preferred to support Jackson's official running mate even though they weren't enthusastic about him, fearing that splitting the vote could lead to John Sergeant becoming vice president. In contrast, veteran members of the Clark party couldn't support Martin Van Buren as they had never forgiven him for serving as William Crawford’s campaign manager in the 1824 presidential election. Instead, they supported James Barbour. Publicly, the Union paper Federal Union accused Van Buren of supporting the protective tariff among other things.^[3]