In the 1936 US Senate contest in Kentucky, incumbent Democrat Marvel Mills Logan was seen as vulnerable, and Chandler backed Democratic challenger J. C. W. Beckham in the Democratic primary. That endorsement drew the ire of Chandler's former ally, Democratic Representative John Y. Brown, Sr., who believed that in exchange for his support of Chandler in the 1935 gubernatorial race, Chandler would support him in the senatorial contest. An embittered Brown entered the race anyway, and the votes that he pulled from Beckham likely allowed Logan to retain the seat. Brown remained Chandler's political enemy for the rest of his political career.