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Coon said that the Rockefeller and Bumpers administrations had succeeded because of their "lack of attachment to and connections with the ongoing political power structure in our state." Coon said that Arkansas was "an emerging state in the New South. We still have a long way to go. The work started in the last eight years is not complete … the job is not yet finished." He vowed if elected to focus upon (1) education), (2) constitutional revision, and (3) electoral reform.<ref>Ken Coon gubernatorial announcement statement, 1974.</ref>
Coon said that the Rockefeller and Bumpers administrations had succeeded because of their "lack of attachment to and connections with the ongoing political power structure in our state." Coon said that Arkansas was "an emerging state in the New South. We still have a long way to go. The work started in the last eight years is not complete … the job is not yet finished." He vowed if elected to focus upon (1) education), (2) constitutional revision, and (3) electoral reform.<ref>Ken Coon gubernatorial announcement statement, 1974.</ref>
Coon's gubernatorial opponent was former [[U.S. Representative]] David Hampton Pryor, originally from Camden in Ouachita County in southern Arkansas. Two years earlier, Pryor had lost the Democratic senatorial primary to the more [[conservative]] incumbent, [[John McClellan]], also of Camden. Pryor emerged as a powerful candidate for governor after he defeated both Bob Riley and former Governor [[Orval E. Faubus]] in the Democratic primary.<ref>http://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=118]</ref> Pryor repeatedly refused to debate Coon.<ref>''Arkansas Gazette'' November 2, 1974.</ref>
Coon's gubernatorial opponent was former [[U.S. Representative]] David Hampton Pryor, originally from Camden in Ouachita County in southern Arkansas. Two years earlier, Pryor had lost the Democratic senatorial primary to the more [[conservative]] incumbent, [[John McClellan]], also of Camden. Pryor emerged as a powerful candidate for governor after he defeated both Bob Riley and former Governor [[Orval E. Faubus]] in the Democratic primary.<ref>http://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=118]</ref> Pryor repeatedly refused to debate Coon.<ref>''Arkansas Gazette'' November 2, 1974.</ref>
Arkansas voters chose Pryor for governor in an overwhelming vote in the Watergate year: 358,018 (65.6 percent) to Coon's 187,872 (34.4 percent). Coon won two of the three counties that he had carried for lieutenant governor in 1972: Sebastian and Searcy, and he polled at least 40 percent in twelve other counties. His defeat was nearly as bad numerically as had been Bumpers' margin over Rockefeller four years earlier. Coon's running mate for lieutenant governor, [[Leona Troxell]], of Rose Bud in White County north of Little Rock, was handily defeated by the Democrat, former state attorney general Joe Purcell, former of Benton in Saline County south of Little Rock.<ref>Arkansas Election Statistics (Little Rock: Secretary of State), 1974.</ref>
Arkansas voters chose Pryor for governor in an overwhelming vote in the Watergate year: 358,018 (65.6 percent) to Coon's 187,872 (34.4 percent). Coon won two of the three counties that he had carried for lieutenant governor in 1972: Sebastian and Searcy, and he polled at least 40 percent in twelve other counties. His defeat was nearly as bad numerically as had been Bumpers' margin over Rockefeller four years earlier. Coon's running mate for lieutenant governor, [[Leona Troxell]], of Rose Bud in White County north of Little Rock, was handily defeated by the Democrat, former state attorney general Joe Purcell, former of Benton in Saline County south of Little Rock.<ref>Arkansas Election Statistics (Little Rock: Secretary of State), 1974.</ref>
==Coon and Nixon==
The gubernatorial race was overshadowed by the [[Watergate]] affair, which caused the defeat of many Republicans nationwide who had no connection to the stunning developments coming from [[Washington, D.C.]] Coon made a bold proposal: [[U.S. President]] [[Richard Nixon]] "should for the good of the country... temporarily turn over his duties" to then Vice President, [[Gerald Ford]] . Coon suggested that Nixon request an immediate trial on (then pending in the before the , but he said that Nixon should not resign because the public needed the "absolute truth". Therefore, he maintained that a trial should be staged in the [[U.S. Senate]] once the [[United States House of Representatives]] voted articles of [[impeachment]].<ref>[http://www.ardemgaz.com/prev/clinton/clinton080674.html] </ref> Coon said in a press release:
<blockquote>
With the President's own admission that he lied to the American people about previous Watergate statements, that he kept pertinent information from the House Judiciary Committee, the courts, as well as his own lawyer, and his admission that, it is a foregone conclusion that the House will impeach him, it might seem to some that he should resign.... However, we must remain calm and not overreact. Our system of government provides that a man, even the President is innocent until proven guilty.</blockquote>
Coon said that if Nixon resigned because of adverse poll ratings, the precedent would cause "irreparable damage" to the United States because "future presidents, if they made an unpopular decision, might also capitulate, leaving government solely in the hands of Congress." Coon's remarks came three days before Nixon resigned the presidency.
==Educational counseling==
==Educational counseling==