At the Republican Naitonal Convention that met in Chicago in 1860, the newly formed Republican party debated between who would carry their torch into the election of 1860.  The leading candidate going into the convention was William Seward (Below), a former Governor and Senator that had great support in the Upper North.  There were two handicaps to nominating Seward for the Republicans: first, he had been a career politician and gathered many enemies including Horace Greeley, and second, his opposition to the Compromise of 1850, his Higher Law speech, and his Irrepresible Conflict speech had given him a reputation as a radical by many.

All of these factors strengthened the Abraham Lincoln in Republican eyes.  At the start of the convention
Lincoln had little support from anywhere outside the Illinois delegation, but by the end of the convention, with hard work from his skilled lieutenants, Lincoln had become the front-runner for the nomination.  Lincoln's assets included his lack of political record which made him tough to attack, along with an 'honest abe' image that made him very attractive.
 

(from NAIL)

    The election of 1860 was a highly sectional vote pitting the North versus the South.  In the South, the two nominees vying for the position were Breckenridge and Bell.  Both were pro slavery and both originated from southern states.  From the North, a newly formed Republican party would nominate Abraham Lincoln, a lawyer from Kentucky, to bolster their beliefs and positions.  The most important position and issue of the day being slavery.  The Republican stance on slavery being non-expansion lead the party to not even put their name on ten southern ballots.

    The outcome of the Election of 1860 would see Lincoln victorious as he claimed all but one of the free states (New Jersey).  With that type of support in the North, even if his opponents had joined their votes together collectively, it would have been to no avail.

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