Democrats helped lead to Lincoln being elected because Northern Democrats opposed the Kansas Nebraska Act, thus the Republican Party was formed. The first candidate was John Fremont. Lincoln did not want the slavery to spread west so he joined the Republican party. When Lincoln ran against Douglas, Douglas sponsored the act, supported pop sovereignty and thought slavery should be a local issue. Lincoln opposed the act, did not support pop sovereignty and did not want slavery to spread.
The democratic party was split over slavery, republicans were strongly against it. Republicans knew they would not win the south, but had high hopes of winning the north and the west. Lincoln won but did not win any southern states.