Passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act and its effective repeal of the Missouri Compromise had reawakened Lincoln’s passion for politics, and he threw himself into the congressional election campaign in the fall of 1854, crisscrossing Illinois to deliver speeches against the Kansas-Nebraska Act and in support of anti-Nebraska candidates. He even allowed himself to become a candidate for the Illinois General Assembly (albeit reluctantly at first). As the election campaign reached its climax, Lincoln’s name began to circulate as a possible nominee for one of the state’s U.S. Senate seats.

The General Assembly met in a joint session on February 8, 1855 to make their selection for the U.S. Senate. All of the state senators and representatives listed by Washburne from the counties of Northern Illinois voted for Lincoln in the first two rounds of voting. In subsequent rounds, some switched their votes to Martin P. Sweet, William B. Ogden, or Lyman Trumbull. Only Daniel J. Pinckney and Hurlbut Swan continued to support Lincoln through all of the first nine rounds of voting. For the tenth vote, Lincoln withdrew and urged his supporters to vote for Trumbull in order to ensure that an anti-Nebraska politician filled the seat. All those named here voted for Trumbull in the tenth and final round of voting in which he emerged victorious. See the 1854 Federal Election.