Marshall and Edgerton had been appointed to the Commission.
Marshall was a resident of St. Anthony, former territorial Representative (HD 05, 1849-1850), former Governor (1866-1870), and appointed to the Railroad Commission in 1874.
Bonniwell was a resident of Hutchinson, former state Senator (SD 06, 1871-1872; SD 36, 1878-1883), former Wisconsin War Democratic state Assemblyman (1864-1865), and eventual state Representative (HD 36, 1877-1878).
Greeley was a resident of Minneapolis who would later become a newspaper publisher and editor.
Edgerton was an attorney from Mantorville, former Republican state Senator (SD 13, 1859-1861), and Breckenridge Democrat nominee for U.S. House in 1860. Edgerton's vote tally was not printed in the Secretary of State's election results but did appear in contemporary media articles. The above tally for Edgerton does not include the results from Big Stone County, Cass County, and the unorganized Pembina region.