The election for this seat was for a six-year term.
Atwood was the seventh 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, Republican Christian Laurisch in 1934, and Republican Frank Matson in 1936. Atwood was appointed to the office by Governor Hjalmar Petersen on November 13, 1936 following the death of Commissioner Knud Wefald on October 25, 1936. Atwood was a resident of Winona, former machinist, former state Representative (HD 02, 1925-1935), and supervisor of employment of the Works Progress Administration for 13 Minnesota counties.
Matson was a resident of St. Paul, former Commissioner of Public Safety, former president of the Minnesota Police Association, and former Railroad and Warehouse Commissioner (1923-1937).
Cosgrove was a resident of Minneapolis, cashier for the Great Northern Railway, Democratic nominee for Railroad and Warehouse Commissioner in 1936, 1940, and 1942, DFL nominee for Railroad and Warehouse Commissioner in 1944, and DFL candidate for Railroad and Warehouse Commissioner in 1946.