Damien Austin

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Current revision as of 16:44, 29 March 2011

Damien Austin
4th Governor of the Big Sky Country
In Office: 2019 - Present Lieutenant: None
Preceded by	Daniel Mallory
Succeeded by	Incumbent
Congressman
In Office: 2015 - 2019
Preceded by	Kyle Astor
Succeeded by	Harrison Park
Born	April 1, 1960 (age 61) Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Political Party	Democrat
Spouse	None
Religion	Christian (United Methodist)

Damien Kyle Austin (born April 1, 1960 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) is the 4th Governor of Big Sky County. He is also a former member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Oklahoma's 5th congressional district in Oklahoma City.

After a career in law enforcement, Austin entered politics by running for election in the Big Sky Country against former Republican Daniel Mallory, where he was ultimately defeated. He ran for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Valeria Smith, and was defeated in one of the closest elections in regional history, losing by five votes in over 3.4 million votes cast.

In 2018, he challenged Governor Daniel Mallory in the latter's re-election campaign; in over 5.1 million votes cast in the race, Austin won the election by a margin of a little over 3,000 votes.

Early Life

Damien Austin was born in Oklahoma City to parents John and Sarah Austin, a farming family that owned land not far from the city. His youth was spent sitting in combines with his father as they tended to the family's wheat farm until Austin graduated high school in 1978 after serving as class president all four years. He graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a degree in criminal justice with high honors in 1982, and began working for the Oklahoma County Sheriff's Office, where he served with distinction until becoming Sheriff in 2001.

In 1995, when the Alfred P. Murrah building in Oklahoma City was bombed, Austin was one of the first deputies on the scene, and worked to coordinate state and local rescue efforts before the Federal Government arrived.

Austin served as Sheriff of Oklahoma County from 2001 until 2014, having been re-elected in 2005, 2009, and 2013 thanks to his meritorious record and his work combating the MS-13 gang problem in Oklahoma City.

2014 Gubernatorial Campaign

In 2014, citing "displeasure" with the inactive Republican Governor Duke Williams, Austin filed papers to run as the Democratic candidate for Governor of the Big Sky Country. Governor Williams had ascended to the office of Governor upon the 2012 retirement of Governor Daniel Mallory, and was seen as being very ineffective by regional press. At the time, there was a lot of speculation as to who would be the Republican candidate, as then-Governor Williams had done no fundraising, and had practically disappeared during the last few years of his administration. In a region where registered Republicans outnumber Democrats 2:1, Mallory was heavily predicted to cruise to election to an office he had vacated only two years previously.

Polls before the election showed Austin at a 13-point disadvantage in a region where the spread was expected to be much worse; while Mallory was hailed as one of the most popular Republicans in the region, many were disillusioned with Mallory's sudden departure from the Governor's Mansion and his subsequent attempt to return.

Governor Mallory was able to line up support from Republicans in the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains, while Austin largely had to "go it alone," while also being $3 million behind Governor Mallory in terms of funding. One of the most interesting characteristics of the race was that, while Austin had little to show in terms of a previous record (he had only served as Sheriff up until 2014), he was able to get the endorsements of several prominent Republican Political Action Committees, including the Club for Growth, the Christian Coalition, the National Rifle Association, Progress for America, and the American Petroleum Institution. Even the Conservative Party endorsed Austin, which he was able to use to help his campaign in the conservative strongholds in the Rocky Mountains.

By the mid-point of the race, Austin had closed the gap somewhat so that he was polling 10-points behind Mallory, having picked up an absolute lead in two states (Kansas and South Dakota) as well as tying their shared home state of Oklahoma. According to analysts, Austin's strength lay in his ability to make voters view him as the more conservative candidate; in the region as a whole, nearly 14 percent of Republicans were planning on voting for Austin over Mallory. Thanks to a focus on alternative energy, rural healthcare, and other moderate themes, Austin was able to grab hold of a large percentage of independent voters; in some states, Austin held a 14-point lead over Mallory when it came to independents.

Near the final leg of the race, Austin was endorsed by the U.S. Conservative Party, a fact which he used greatly in campaign events and advertisements. During the final days of the campaign, Austin focused almost exclusively on campaigning in Utah, which some suggest was a last-ditch effort to hurt Mallory's lead in the state. It worked; while Austin was 28-points down in Utah prior to the blitz, by election day he had closed the gap to less than 9 points in the most conservative state in the United States.

By election day, Austin had turned a 13-point, $3-million deficit into a 6.89-point loss. Austin won an estimated 48.8 per cent of the vote in the Great Plains, a feat which was seen as the closest a Democrat had come to winning the region outright. Austin won both Dakotas, Kansas, and lost Oklahoma by a mere 400 votes.

Career in the U.S. House of Representatives, 2015-2016

Nearly immediately after the 2014 campaign, a special election was held in Austin's home district in Oklahoma, after the serving Representative, Kyle Astor, left office. Austin was still running on the popularity of his gubernatorial campaign (where he had very nearly won Oklahoma, the shared homestate of Austin and Governor Mallory), and was able to easily defeat the Republican challenger for the seat with over 55% of the vote in an election with very low turnout.

Upon being voted into the House of Representatives, Austin was appointed to the House Standing Committees on Appropriations and Government Regulations (AGR) and Budget, Economy, Labor, and Infrastructure (BELI). Austin was made Vice-Chairman of the former, and in 2015 was elevated to Chairman when the original chairman retired from the House of Representatives.

During his first term as a Congressman, Austin introduced bills which were of a conservative nature, and often had more Republican co-sponsors than Democrats. Many of his bills, he said, were a result of "promises made while running for governor," which became an important part of his platform for his 2016 run for Senator. Two bills passed the House of Representatives, while others were still in committee, but thanks to a rule change in the House, those bills have since been erased.

A popular Representative, Austin was made Speaker of the House pro tempore, and served as Acting Speaker when current Speaker of the House Emmett Honeycutt was absent.

2016 Senatorial Campaign

Thanks to the popularity of his campaign for the office of Governor (he received nearly 49% of the vote in the Great Plains) and his service in the House of Representatives, Austin decided to run for Senate in 2014 against popular incumbent Valeria Smith, who had served as Senior Senator since 2004. Before the Senatorial election, Smith had been running for President, and, although was polling in the single-digits nationwide, was popular in the region as being the "quintessential Republican."

Polls before the election suggested a close race, as Austin started a mere four points behind Smith, with nearly ten percent of Republicans backing Austin. Thanks to his conservative streak, Austin was able to raise a large amount of money from Political Action Committees that normally support Republicans, including the Christian Coalition (who pointed out that Austin, a Democrat, received the highest score of all 2016 candidates), the Club for Growth, and the National Rifle Association. Going into the election, Austin had nearly $6 million more than Senator Smith.

The first half of the campaign was focused largely around Republicans, as both candidates attempted to win Republicans to their side. Austin was able to point to a conservative term in Congress, while Smith aired ads saying that "a vote for Austin is a vote for abortion," saying that, as a Democrat, Austin would ensure that pro-abortion, pro-gay marriage legislation would be passed. Smith was also able to line up support from Governor Daniel Mallory and Senator Joshua Long, who pushed a similar message.

By the race's midpoint, both Smith and Austin had been able to increase their support, but Austin was still polling 4 points behind. Much of the remaining part of the campaign remained unchanged for Smith, who continued to hit Republicans (about 85% of which supported her) and had the Governor and her fellow Senator campaigning on her behalf. Austin's campaign began to switch to more independent messages, focusing mainly on the importance of ethanol and a vote by Senator Smith that would eliminate tariffs on ethanol imports from Brazil. Near the end, Austin began making large gains, and was estimated to be 2 points behind entering the final week of campaigning. Helping Austin was an endorsement (again) by the U.S. Conservative Party, who ran ads on Austin's behalf in Kansas and Oklahoma.

Austin ended up losing the election by five votes out of over 3.4 million cast in the closest election in Great Plains history, after winning every state save Kansas. Smith did not receive a majority of the vote; nevertheless, she went to Washington claiming to have a "mandate" of the voters. Analysts of the race say that Austin's campaign events were far superior to those of Smith's, but it as the latter's ability to command the help of Governor Mallory and Senator Long that kept the race in her favor. Austin, by the end of the race, won nearly 15% of all Republicans voting, and well over 67% of all independents in a race where regional turnout exceeded sixty percent.

Career in the U.S. House of Representatives, 2017-2018

Following a defeat in the 2016 election, Austin was returned to the House of Representatives by the people of his district through a write-in campaign, where the popular incumbent (a recent poll taken among 5th District voters showed Austin had an approval rating in excess of seventy percent) faced no challengers at all. Upon his return to the House, Austin was chosen as a candidate for Speaker of the House, a position which was ultimately denied to him because of allegations of being "too conservative" to effectively run the Democratic Majority in Congress. Austin re-took his position on the Committee of Budget, Economy, Labor, and Infrastructure (BELI), becoming chairman after an appointment by House Majority Leader Lynn Darcy. However, as the Federal budget loomed, Austin was replaced as BELI Chairman, again with rumors circulating that he was "too conservative" for the position.

Austin was made instead the chairman of the Foreign Relations and Armed Services Committee (FRAS), in the wake of a scandal which saw the chairman and the vice-chairman absent from committee proceedings, leaving the Republican ranking member, Congressman Daniel Morey to run affairs prior to Austin's appointment. He also served as Speaker pro tempore during the session in the absence of Speaker Honeycutt, stepping in during a long absence in 2018.

Following the election of President Whitney Mason, many bills that Austin had written were re-submitted, and during his second two-year term, one of the bills, the "Farm Owners Tax Relief Act" was signed into law by the President, and several others had passed the House and were passed to the Senate.

2018 Gubernatorial Campaign

Following a successful session in Congress which saw several of his bills pass the House and one signed into law, Austin again sought to challenge incumbent Governor Daniel Mallory in 2018. Despite the demographic slant of the Big Sky Country, which would have pit Austin not only against a popular incumbent Governor but also in an uphill battle to win as a Democrat in a region that had only elected Republicans to higher office, Austin started out five points behind Mallory...

Election Results