This was the first Minnesota gubernatorial election with a third party candidate on the ballot. The Temperance Party was founded in 1868 and held its first convention in St. Paul on October 6, 1869. It would later be known as the Prohibition Party in the state.
Mattson, an attorney from Red Wing who was elected city clerk and Goodhue County Auditor (1859-1861), was the first Swedish-born Minnesotan elected to statewide office.
Fladeland was a former state Representative (HD 09, 1857-1859).
Thompson was a resident of Houston County.