Damien Austin

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Revision as of 07:30, 16 November 2007

Damien Austin
Congressman
In Office: 2015 - Present
Preceded by	Kyle Astor
Succeeded by
Born	April 1, 1960 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Political Party	Democrat
Spouse	None
Religion	Christian (United Methodist)

Damien Kyle Austin (born April 1, 1960 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) is a Democratic 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 is now running for U.S. Senate seat currently held by Valeria Smith.

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.

2012 Gubernatorial Campaign

In 2012, 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

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Election Results