 He also charged that Tompkins was not the true choice of the Anti-Relief party, but only gained its support by being the first candidate with that position to announce his candidacy.Backers of Russell, who consistently ran a distant third in voter support, agreed with this claim, saying Tompkins had joined the race before a date that had been previously agreed on among Anti-Relief candidates, giving him an unfair advantage over Russell.Anti-Relief partisans opened many lines of attack against Desha.