Electoral history of Abraham Lincoln

Illinois House of Representatives

1832 - Lost

1834 - Won

1836 - Won

1838 - Won

1840 - Won

United States House of Representatives

1844 - Lost Whig Party nomination to Edward Dickinson Baker

Illinois House of Representatives

1854 - Wins seat in Illinois House of Representatives, declines seat to focus on future candidacy for United States Senate

1854 Senate election

February 8, 1855

Note: At this time, U.S. Senators were elected by the state legislatures, not by vote of the people

51 votes needed for election

     Candidate won that Round of voting     Candidate withdrew     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.

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 Senate election

Note: At this time, U.S. Senators were elected by the state legislatures, not by vote of the people

Republican Party nomination

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): Leip, David. "1860 Presidential Election Results". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved July 27, 2005. 
Source (Electoral Vote): "Electoral College Box Scores 1789–1996". National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved July 31, 2005. 

^(a) The popular vote figures exclude South Carolina where the Electors were chosen by the state legislature rather than by popular vote.

General election

Source (Popular Vote): Leip, David. "1864 Presidential Election Results". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved July 27, 2005. 
Source (Electoral Vote): "Electoral College Box Scores 1789–1996". National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved July 31, 2005.  ^(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.