Jackson was the winner in the Electoral College votes. But since the presidency was not awarded, the House of Representatives had to choose between the top two candidates because neither candidate received a majority of votes in the electoral college. After losing the "corrupt bargain" presidential election of 1824, Jackson expanded his political base into the lower and central South, bringing together many strands of disaffection from across the country. (Jacksonian Democracy) Jackson successfully challenged President John Quincy Adams in 1828, Jackson's supporters played primarily on his image as a virile warrior, framing the contest as a contest between Adams who could write and Jackson who could fight. Andrew Jackson was elected president in 1828. Jackson began to refine democratic politics and ideology.