Magoffin was elected governor of Kentucky by a vote of 76,187 to 67,283 over Joshua Fry Bell, taking office on August 30, 1859. He supported states' rights and the institution of slavery. Although he believed in the right of states to secede from the union, he hoped to avoid this outcome by reaching an agreement between the southern and northern states. To that end, he wrote a circular letter to the governors of the slave states on December 9, 1860 detailing a plan to save the Union.