The Union Bank bonds controversy persisted as a prominent economic and political issue in Mississippi during the 1840s, maintaining its divisive influence. In the 1843 election, the Democrats, still divided over the bond question, opted not to nominate Governor Tilghman M. Tucker for reelection and instead chose Albert G. Brown. The primary focus of the campaign centered on the repudiation of the Union Bank bonds. Brown's opponents highlighted his past support for the Union Bank, pointing to his votes in the legislature for its charter and a bill in 1839 compelling Governor McNutt to issue the full amount of bonds. In response, Democrats argued that new insights deemed the issuance of Union Bank bonds unconstitutional. The anti-bond Democrats rallied behind Brown, who emerged victorious in the election by defeating the Whig candidate, George R. Clayton, and former U.S. Senator Thomas Hickman Williams, an independent bond-paying Democrat.[2][3]
