This is the electoral history of Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln served one term in the United States House of Representatives from Illinois (1847–1849). He later served as the 16th president of the United States (1861–1865).
Illinois House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
1842: Despite aspirations for the congressional office, Lincoln did not actively run for the Whig Party nomination; as a delegate to the Whig nominating convention, Lincoln helped cut a deal that would give John J. Hardin the nomination in 1842, Edward Dickinson Baker the nomination in 1844 and Lincoln the nomination in 1846.
1846 elections
Illinois House of Representatives 1854 - Wins seat in Illinois House of Representatives. Declines serving in that seat in order to be eligible for his immediate candidacy for United States Senate. The election was held in November 1854, for a term starting in January 1855.
1855 US Senate election The election was held on February 8, 1855, for a term starting in March 1855.
Note: At this time, U.S. Senators were elected by the state legislatures, not by vote of the people Candidate Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5 Round 6 Round 7 Round 8 Round 9 Round 10 James Shields, Democrat 41 41 41 41 42 41 1 0 0 0 Abraham Lincoln, Whig 45 44 41 38 34 36 38 27 15 0 Lyman Trumbull, Democrat 5 6 6 11 10 8 9 18 35 51 William B. Ogden, Democrat 1 0 0 1 5 5 4 6 0 0 Joel A. Matteson, Democrat 1 1 0 2 1 0 44 46 47 47 William Kellogg 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Gustavus Koerner 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 0 0 Cyrus Edwards 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Orlando B. Ficklin, Democrat 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 William A. Denning 1 1 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 Martin P. Sweet 0 2 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 Archibald Williams, Whig 0 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 J. Young Scammon, Whig 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 Orville H. Browning, Whig 0 0 0 0 2 3 0 0 0 0 John A. Logan, Democrat 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 John A. McClernand, Democrat 0 0 0 8 0 0 1 0 0 0 51 votes needed for election Candidate won that Round of voting Candidate won Senate seat
Note: Five "anti-Nebraska" Democrats (i.e. opposed to the Kansas–Nebraska Act) voted for Trumbull rather than vote for Lincoln, a Whig. When pro-Nebraska Democrats were unable to reelect Shields, they switched their allegiance to Matteson, who had no stance on the Act. Lincoln then withdrew and threw his support to Trumbull, so that an anti-Nebraska candidate would be assured victory.
1856 presidential election
Vice presidential nomination for the Republican Party William Lewis Dayton: 523 (64.73%) Abraham Lincoln: 110 (13.61%) Nathaniel Prentice Banks: 46 (5.69%) David Wilmot: 43 (5.32%) Charles Sumner: 35 (4.33%) Jacob Collamer: 15 (1.86%) John Alsop King: 9 (1.11%) Samuel C. Pomeroy: 8 (0.99%) Thomas Ford: 7 (0.87%) Henry Charles Carey: 3 (0.37%) Cassius M. Clay: 3 (0.37%) Joshua R. Giddings: 2 (0.25%) Whitfield Johnson: 2 (0.25%) Aaron Pennington: 1 (0.12%) Henry Wilson: 1 (0.12%) Wyatt Gauger. 1(0.8%)
1858 US Senate election Note: At this time, U.S. Senators were elected by the state legislatures, not by vote of the people
1860 presidential election
Republican Party nomination +Presidential ballotNominee Home State 1st 2nd 3rd 3rd "corrected" New York 173.5 184.5 180 111.5Illinois102181231.5349 Pennsylvania 50.5 2 0 0 Ohio 49 42.5 24.5 2 Missouri 48 35 22 0 New Jersey 14 10 1 1 Ohio 12 8 5 0.5 Vermont 10 0 - - Ohio 3 0 - - Pennsylvania 1 0 - - Massachusetts 1 0 - - California 1 0 - - Kentucky - 2 1 1
Upon seeing how close Lincoln was to the 233 votes needed after the third ballot, a delegate from Ohio switched 4 votes from Chase to Lincoln. This triggered an avalanche towards Lincoln with a final count of 364 votes out of 466 cast.
General election
Source (Popular Vote): Source (Electoral Vote):
(a) The popular vote figures exclude South Carolina where the Electors were chosen by the state legislature rather than by popular vote.
1864 presidential election
Republican Party nomination Presidential ballotBallot 1st before shifts 1st after shiftsAbraham Lincoln 484 506Ulysses S. Grant 22 0
General election
Source (Popular Vote): Source (Electoral Vote): (a) The states in rebellion did not participate in the election of 1864. (b) One Elector from Nevada did not vote (c) Andrew Johnson had been a Democrat, and after 1869 was a Democrat. The Republican Party called itself the National Union Party to accommodate the War Democrats in this election.
See also Lincoln and Liberty, Lincoln's 1860 campaign song
References
External links Shapell Manuscript Foundation