Passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act and its effective repeal of the Missouri Compromise reawakened Lincoln’s passion for politics, and he threw himself into the 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 unwillingly 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. In November and December 1854, he wrote confidential letters to political allies, seeking support for his candidacy and information about his prospects. He likely wrote Davis such a letter, although no correspondence between Lincoln and Davis in the whole of 1854 prior to December has been located.

Lincoln won election to the Illinois General Assembly, but, on November 25, 1854, officially declined to serve in order to run for the U.S. Senate. Per article three, section seven of the 1848 Illinois State Constitution, state legislators were ineligible for election to the U.S. Senate.

In mid-December 1854, Leonard Swett made at least two trips to northern Illinois to ascertain whether specific individuals would support Lincoln as a candidate for U.S. senator

Thomas B. Talcott, Wait Talcott’s brother, wrote Lincoln on December 14, 1854, in reply to a letter Lincoln wrote him December 6. In this reply, Thomas Talcott stated that his brother was “an abolitionist of the Lovejoy stamp” and that the prospects of him voting for Lincoln were “not flattering.” Lincoln’s December 6, 1854 letter to Thomas Talcott has not been located.

The portion of Rachel Fisher’s letter that Davis transcribed for Lincoln does not include any mention of Luther W. Lawrence. No correspondence between Lawrence and Lincoln has been located. However, in a January 6, 1855 letter to Elihu B. Washburne, Lincoln wrote that he believed Lawrence “will be for me. . . but he has not spoken it out.”

Adams wrote Lincoln on December 17, 1854, in reply to a letter Lincoln wrote him December 5. Adams stated that he agreed an anti-Nebraska candidate should be elected to the U.S. Senate and outlined the qualifications he desired in a U.S. senator. Lincoln’s December 5, 1854 letter to Adams has not been located.

Despite rumors about pro-Nebraska Democrats conspiring to avert or delay the election, in reality it was the anti-Nebraska forces that attempted to delay the election after incumbent James Shields polled even with Lincoln after the third ballot during the election held at a joint session of the General Assembly on February 8, 1855. Stephen T. Logan motioned for the adjournment of the joint session, but members refused to adjourn by a vote of 56 to 42. Of the forty-one legislators who voted for Lincoln on the third ballot, only one—George F. Foster—voted against adjourning the session.

Ultimately, Lincoln did not win election to the U.S. Senate; the General Assembly selected anti-Nebraska Democrat Lyman Trumbull instead. Talcott voted for Lincoln for the first six ballots, then shifted to William B. Ogden, before moving to Trumbull in the ninth ballot. Lawrence cast his first three ballots for Lincoln, voted for Martin P. Sweet on the fourth ballot, switched to Ogden for the next four ballots, then settled on Trumbull for ballots nine and ten. Both Swan and Pinckney voted for Lincoln through the first nine rounds of voting, before switching their votes to Trumbull. Adams cast seven ballots for Lincoln before switching his vote to Trumbull. Matthias L. Dunlap voted for Lincoln in the first three rounds, switched to Trumbull in the fourth, back to Lincoln in the fifth, and finally settled on Trumbull on the eighth ballot. See the 1854 Federal Election. Stung and disappointed by his loss, Lincoln made no political speeches or public statements for an entire year after his defeat and reinvested his energies in his law practice.