Douglas spoke in Bloomington, Illinois the evening of Friday, July 16. Lincoln was present. When Douglas concluded his speech, the crowd called for Lincoln to deliver a reply. Lincoln declined, stating that since the meeting was “called by the friends of Judge Douglas . . . it would be improper for me to address it.” Lincoln delivered a campaign address in Bloomington before a Republican crowd on September 4.

For a time, Lincoln followed Douglas on the campaign trail, delivering speeches either later in the evening after Douglas finished, or the next day. This posed challenges, however, as many spectators were unwilling to devote long hours or days to campaign events. Democrats also attacked Lincoln as “desperate” for following in Douglas’ footsteps. On July 24, Lincoln challenged Douglas to a series of formal debates. Douglas agreed, and these became the Lincoln-Douglas Debates.

In Illinois’ local elections of that year, the voters of McLean County awarded a healthy majority of 54.1 percent to Owen Lovejoy, the Third Congressional District’s Republican candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives. He won the district overall with 57.7 percent of the total votes cast. When the full elections results came in, Republicans won a majority of all votes cast in the state, but pro-Douglas Democrats retained control of the Illinois General Assembly. At the time, members of the General Assembly voted for and elected the state’s representatives in the U.S. Senate. Ultimately, Douglas won reelection to the U.S. Senate. Through the campaign, however, and in particular through his participation in the Lincoln-Douglas Debates, Lincoln gained national recognition as well as standing within the Republican Party.