His term was marked by what came to be called the Black Day of the General Assembly. The assembly was split with Democrats controlling the Senate 31–19, while the House of Representatives was split 52–44–4, with Republicans holding the majority, and Greenbacks holding four seats. In a joint session, it would split the vote 75 Democrat, 71 Republican, with the 4 Greenbacks holding the deciding votes. Knowing that he could probably sway one of the Greenbacks to vote for his bid for the United States Senate, Gray began to attempt to have his name entered as a candidate. Some Democratic leaders were still upset over his actions while he was a Republican, and decided to do whatever it took to prevent him from going any higher in office.