Buchanan defeated John C. Frémont of the newly formed Republican Party and the third-party candidate former President Millard Fillmore, who ran under the banner of the Know Nothing Party. Fremont was known as the “Pathfinder of the West” for his explorations in the western United States and for his exceptional military career. A former U.S. senator from California, Fremont had the support of many abolitionists but the abolitionist stance of the Republican Party was not well received in the South and other parts of the country. Buchanan captured 174 electoral votes, Fremont 114, and Fillmore 8.