During these terms, Dubois moved to Springfield, down the street from Abraham Lincoln. Dubois was a candidate for the Republican nomination in 1868 as governor of Illinois, but the nomination went to John M. Palmer. DuBois was named to the Republican National Executive Committee in 1868. Later that year, he was a delegate to the 1868 Republican National Convention. Dubois was disappointed that he was never able to secure a patronage position from Lincoln for himself or his son-in-law James P. Luse. He lamented that "[Lincoln] has for 30 years past just used me as a plaything to accomplish his own ends."