Matson was the sixth Railroad / Railroad and Warehouse Commissioner to lose at the ballot box following Anti-Monopolist Alonzo Edgerton in 1875, Republican-turned-Prohibitionist William Marshall in 1881, Democratic-People's nominees Peter Rindal and Thomas Knox in 1900, and Republican Christian Laurisch in 1934.
Petersen was an editor and publisher from Askov, a former state Representative (HD 56, 1931-1935), Lieutenant Governor (1935-1936), sitting Governor (1936-1937), Farmer-Labor candidate for Governor in 1938, Farmer-Labor nominee for Governor in 1940 and 1942, Republican candidate for Governor in 1946, DFL candidate for Governor in 1950, and DFL candidate for U.S. Senate in 1958.
Cosgrove was a resident of Minneapolis, cashier for the Great Northern Railway, Democratic nominee for Railroad and Warehouse Commissioner in 1938, 1940, and 1942, DFL nominee for Railroad and Warehouse Commissioner in 1944, and DFL candidate for Railroad and Warehouse Commissioner in 1946.