At the time of Whitlock’s letter, Lincoln was the Illinois Republican Party’s candidate for the U.S. Senate. He was running against Democratic incumbent Stephen A. Douglas. Because members of the Illinois General Assembly voted for and elected the state’s representatives in the U.S. Senate at the time, both Lincoln and Douglas canvassed Illinois throughout the summer and fall of 1858, delivering speeches in support of candidates for the General Assembly in their respective parties. However, there is no evidence that Lincoln visited Marshall or even Clark County at all during the campaign of 1858. He delivered a speech in Paris, Illinois, on September 7 and debated Douglas in Charleston, Illinois, on September 18, so it is possible that some of Clark County’s voters heard Lincoln speak at one of these events.

In Illinois’s local elections of 1858, Clark County sent Democrat Joseph P. Updegraff to the Illinois House over Payne, a Republican. In addition, Clark County elected Democrat James C. Robinson over Republican Richard J. Oglesby as a part of Illinois’ Seventh Congressional District. In the end, Republicans won a majority of all votes cast in the state, but pro-Douglas Democrats retained control of the Illinois General Assembly and Douglas ultimately won reelection to the U.S. Senate. Through the campaign, however, and in particular through his participation in the Lincoln-Douglas Debates, Lincoln gained recognition as well as standing within the national Republican Party.