The 1847 decision of Governor James Pinckney Henderson to not seek another term left a wide open race for his replacement. A race dominated by five candidates developed with the key issue being how to deal with the public debt. About a month before the election one of the candidates, Isaac Van Zandt, died of yellow fever. Most of Van Zandt's support shifted to Wood. As a result he won the election with 7,154 votes compared to second place finisher James B. Miller with 5,106.