In 1858, Illinois was dominated by the Democratic Party, and Douglas was by far its most popular figure, while Lincoln was not well known because the newly formed Republican Party was still trying to build an organization. As Lincoln campaigned across the state in an effort to unseat Douglas, he had difficulty drawing crowds, so he proposed that they share a platform and divide their speaking time. Douglas, though he had nothing to gain by doing so, agreed. Seven debates were then scheduled in congressional districts where they had not already appeared near one another, since they had already spoken in Chicago and Springfield. Their format gave the first speaker one hour, the second speaker an hour and a half, and then the first speaker a half-hour rejoinder, with the order alternating so that Douglas opened four debates and Lincoln opened three. Newspapers openly favored one party or the other and made no effort to separate editorial opinion from news reporting. Because the issues under debate had national importance and drew attention across the country, major newspapers employed stenographers to try to record the debates accurately, the first such effort to create an exact record of political speeches. Historian Harold Holzer later found that newspapers edited the published texts for the candidate they supported while printing the opposing candidate's words as originally taken down.