I forgot to add in the original post that I had also changed out all the fuses. I bought the mower from a friend, brought it home and used it once, and it hasn't ran since. It was running, but would bog down. I would have to kick the control arms out to neutral, and the motor would idle back up. It backfired on me, and has never started again after I shut it off. One fuse was completely burned up when I checked them, and I hoped it was a simple fix like that.
From what I have read on-line, it seems like this problem keeps coming back to the fly wheel / magneto or the igniter.