The Jon Coon Campaign

In 1994, Libertarian Jon Coon raised more than $200,000 for his campaign for U.S. Senate in Michigan, ultimately winning 4.5% of the vote.

• Coon speaks on local talk radio show and discusses the Libertarian viewpoint, electability and the War on Drugs
• Detroit newspaper praises Coon's hard campaigning
• Final result: Jon Coon wins 4.5% of the vote. Source: November 12, 1994, Libertarian Party press release.

Opponent reluctant to debate

From the June 13, 1994, Inside Michigan Politics, a bimonthly newsletter widely read by Michigan media and political operatives, and edited by Bill Ballenger, an often-consulted expert on state politics:

"How about I take the first half-hour, and you take the second half-hour." -- A whey-faced E. Spencer Abraham, one of two Republican candidates for the U.S. Senate, to Libertarian nominee Jon Coon in the studios of WJR-AM on Memorial Day. Abraham was displaying how a candidate with what his campaign describes as "guts" reacts when he finds that his schedulers have boxed him into a debate with a Libertarian for an hour on live radio -- his voice goes up about two octaves, he demands a private audience with moderator Kevin Joyce, and he offers to split the difference with Coon rather than deal with him face-to-face.