of several Southern states were disputed bitterly. Both parties in Congress agreed to convene a bipartisan Electoral Commission, which ultimately decided the race for Hayes. For Democrats, the "stolen election" became a rallying cry, and the Democratic majority in the House of Representatives spent much of 1878 investigating it, although they failed to turn up any new evidence against their Republican foes. At first, Tilden was seen as the front-runner for the 1880 nomination. For leading Republicans, Hayes's inauguration in 1877 signaled the start of backroom maneuverings for the nomination in 1880. Even before his election, Hayes had pledged not to run for a second term, leaving the path to the White House open in 1880. His cabinet selections alienated many party leaders as well, deepening the growing divide within the Republican party between forces loyal to New York Senator Roscoe Conkling and those loyal to Maine Senator James G. Blaine. Conventions The parties agreed on their respective platforms and nominees at conventions, which met in the summer before the election. Republicans The Republican convention met first, convening in Chicago, Illinois, on June 2. Of the men vying for the Republican nomination, the three strongest candidates leading up to the convention were former president Ulysses S. Grant, Senator James G. Blaine and Treasury Secretary John Sherman. Grant had been the leading military commander for the Northern forces during the Civil War, and had served two terms as president from 1869 to 1877. He was seeking an unprecedented third term in the office. He was backed by Conkling's faction of the Republican Party, now known as the Stalwarts. They were mainly known for their opposition to the civil service reforms sought by President Hayes. Blaine, a senator and former representative from Maine, was backed by the Half-Breed faction of the party, which did support civil service reform. Sherman, the brother of Civil War general William Tecumseh Sherman, was a former senator from Ohio serving in Hayes's cabinet. He was backed by a smaller delegation that supported neither of the major factions. On the first ballot, Grant and Blaine gleaned 304 and 285 votes, respectively, while Sherman received 93. None of the candidates were close to victory, and the balloting continued in order to determine a winner. Many more ballots were taken, but no candidate prevailed. After the thirty-fifth ballot, Blaine and Sherman delegates switched their support to the new "dark horse"