Buchanan, their presidential candidate, rejoiced in the fact that order had been restored by two citizens of his own State.
It was now very generally conceded that Kansas would become a free State, and intimate associates of Buchanan assured the public that he was himself of that opinion and that if elected he would insure to the free-state party evenhanded justice.

Thousands of voters were thus won to Buchanan's support.

There was a general distrust of the Republican candidate as a man lacking political experience, and a strong conservative reaction against the idea of electing a President by the votes of only one section of the country.

At the election in November, Buchanan received a majority of sixty of the electoral votes over Fremont, but in the popular vote he fell short of a majority by nearly 400,000.

Fillmore, candidate of the Whig and the American parties, received 874,000 votes.
There was still profound distrust of the administration of the Territory of Kansas, and the free-state settlers refused to vote at the election set for the choosing of a new territorial Legislature in October.
The result was another pro-slavery assembly.