<P> Lincoln used a number of colorful phrases in the debates, such as when he said that one argument by Douglas made a horse chestnut into a chestnut horse, and compared an evasion by Douglas to the sepia cloud from a cuttlefish . Lincoln said that Douglas' Freeport Doctrine was a do - nothing sovereignty that was "as thin as the homeopathic soup that was made by boiling the shadow of a pigeon that had starved to death ." </P> <P> The October surprise of the election was the endorsement of the Democrat Douglas by former Whig John J. Crittenden . Non-Republican former Whigs comprised the biggest block of swing voters, and Crittenden's endorsement of Douglas rather than Lincoln, also a former Whig, reduced Lincoln's chances of winning . </P> <P> On election day, as the districts were drawn to favor Douglas' party, the Democrats won 40 seats in the state house of Representatives, and the Republicans won 35 . In the state senate, Republicans held 11 seats, and Democrats held 14 . Stephen A. Douglas was reelected by the legislature, 54 - 46, even though Lincoln's Republicans won the popular vote with a percentage of 50.6%, or by 3,402 votes . However, the widespread media coverage of the debates greatly raised Lincoln's national profile, making him a viable candidate for nomination as the Republican candidate in the upcoming 1860 presidential election . He would go on to secure both the nomination and the presidency, beating Douglas (as the Northern Democratic candidate), among others, in the process . </P> <P> Lincoln also went on to be in contact with editors looking to publish the debate texts . George Parsons, the Ohio Republican committee chairman, got Lincoln in touch with Ohio's main political publisher, Follett and Foster, of Columbus . They published copies of the text, and titled the book, Political Debates Between Hon . Abraham Lincoln and Hon . Stephen A. Douglas in the Celebrated Campaign of 1858, in Illinois . Four printings were made, and the fourth sold 16,000 copies . </P>

Who won the illinois senate race of 1858