On Tuesday, October 13, 1863 Abraham Lincoln was pleased to learn that voters in the North had rejected the Peace Democrats and Northern Copperheads. Especially satisfying for Lincoln was the defeat of Clement Vallandigham, the notorious Copperhead who ran for governor of Ohio, despite having campaigned by mail while in exile in Canada.
John Brough, a War Democrat, who ran on the Republican ticket won election, beating Vallandigham who ran a strong race despite his exile and Copperhead ties. In Pennsylvania Governor Andrew Curtin, a staunch Unionist and supporter of Lincoln, was reelected.
Union candidates also won in Indiana and Iowa. After Gettysburg and Vicksburg, the Union electorate seemingly now understood how the war would end. However, the questions of “how” and “when” that victory could be attained still remained unresolved.