On the first presidential ballot, Bell won 68 1/2 votes compared to Houston's 57, with the remainder of the delegates voting for Crittenden, Everett, and various favorite son candidates. Bell picked up support from dozens of delegates on the second ballot, thereby clinching the nomination. Houston refused to endorse Bell and ultimately declined to back any candidate in the 1860 election. Seeking to provide sectional balance to the ticket, the convention selected Everett as the party's vice presidential nominee by acclamation. Everett reluctantly accepted the vice presidential nomination, as he felt that he had had a more accomplished career than Bell. With the nomination of two former Whigs, many regarded the Constitutional Union Party as a continuation of the Whig Party; one Southern newspaper called the new party the "ghost of the old Whig Party."