The Election of 1800 The election of 1800 marked the first transfer of political power in the United States from one party to another. The Democratic-Republican candidate for president, Thomas Jefferson, defeated the Federalist Party incumbent, John Adams. On March 4, 1801, the Columbian Centinel, a Federalist newspaper in Boston, viewed Jefferson’s inauguration as the end of the peace, prosperity, and honor achieved under the Federalists. The Granger Collection, New York