On the day of the vote, one assemblyman argued there was no political difference between the two candidates—Tyler was merely more agreeable than Randolph. The incumbent's supporters, though, contended that Tyler's election would be a tacit endorsement of the Adams administration. The legislature selected Tyler in a vote of 115–110, and he resigned his governorship on March 4, 1827, as his Senate term began.[37]

Democratic maverick
By the time of Tyler's senatorial election, the 1828 campaign for president was in progress. Adams, the incumbent president, was challenged by Andrew Jackson. The Democratic-Republicans had splintered into Adams's National Republicans and Jackson's Democrats. Tyler disliked both candidates for their willingness to increase the power of the federal government, but was increasingly drawn to Jackson, hoping that he would not seek to spend as much federal money on internal improvements as Adams. Of Jackson, he wrote, "Turning to him I may at least indulge in hope; looking on Adams I must despair."[38]
When the Twentieth Congress began in December 1827,[f] Tyler served alongside his Virginia colleague and friend Littleton Waller Tazewell, who shared his strict constructionist views and uneasy support of Jackson. 