He was admitted to nothing more than an honorary seat, but the opposition of himself and his friends had the desired effect in preventing the candidacy of Governor Curtin from becoming formidable.
On the first ballot Mr.Wade led with 147 votes.

Mr.Fenton was next with 126, Mr.Colfax followed with 125, and Mr.Wilson with 119.

Mr.
Curtin had 51, and the remainder were scattering.

Several of the minor candidates immediately dropped out, and on the second ballot the vote for Wade was raised to 170, for Colfax to 145, and for Fenton to 144.
The third and fourth ballots showed nearly equal gains for Wade and Colfax, while Fenton made no increase.

All other names were withdrawn.
Wade had been weakened by the fact that after the first ballot his own State of Ohio had given several votes for Colfax, to whom the tide now turned with great strength.