stephen douglas was the candidate of the northern democrats. john c. breckinridge ran for the southern democrats. john bell, the senator from tennessee, ran for the constitutional union party. the split in the democratic party almost guaranteed lincoln could win the presidency. at the beginning of 1860, lincoln was not a major candidate for president. on november6, 1860, with 39% of the popular vote and a majority in the electoral college, lincoln was elected president. voter turnout for the election was 81.2%, the second highest in american history.