He sponsored legislation for strict reporting requirements for lobbyists; criticized the leadership of his own party for the hiring practices of former legislators; and provided Governor Thornburgh with the deciding vote which defined the authority of the state's first elected Attorney General over the objections of the leadership in his party.

Austin sponsored a resolution adopted by the House to include the treatment of sickle cell anemia in the state Health Plan of 1979, and authored a provision to the state's No Fault Divorce law which mandated that a spouse's pension be taken into account when the courts are determining property distribution.

Austin ran a campaign based on new ideas and change while Zemprelli relied on his experience as Majority Leader and the fact that he was "the most powerful voice in Harrisburg."

In a hard-fought, high-profile campaign, Zemprelli's experience argument won out and Austin lost by a vote total of 27,960 to 18,019.

The Pittsburgh Press wrote that Austin "ran a smart, high-stakes campaign that combined elements of populism and big money.

The campaign wrap-up concluded, "His loss to Zemprelli means he will leave public office in December when his House term expires.

Austin decided not to run for House re-election in order to devote full time to his Senate race.

Austin is now Atkinson's top administrative aide, but back along the banks of the Monongahela he will be remembered as a former state legislator who was young, attractive, ambitious – and who nonetheless served only one term."

He looked on from the Portico of the Oval Office, flanked on either side by Reagan political advisors Ed Rollins and Paul Russo.

Atwater introduced Austin to Reagan and included him in White House social functions and high level events, including the October 8, 1981, South Lawn departure ceremony of former Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Jimmy Carter, who led the U.S. delegation to the state funeral of former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat.

The Reagan administration appointed Austin Director of Governmental Affairs, Food and Nutrition Service, at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Two years later Lee Atwater was instrumental in sending Austin to Atlanta with less than eight weeks until the election to manage the long shot campaign of Republican Patrick L. Swindall against five-term incumbent and former Rhodes Scholar, Congressman Elliott Levitas (D-Ga).

An August survey by pollster Arthur Finkelstein showed Levitas held a large lead over Swindall 52.5% to 24.4% prior to Austin's arrival to the campaign.

[4] While Atwater later orchestrated the 1988 presidential election of President George H. W. Bush, and became Chairman of the Republican National Committee, he recognized the fact that the Atkinson party switch was one of his first coups as Reagan's White House political advisers.

Austin shook up the organization and the campaign embarked on a strategy designed to 'smoke out' Levitas by presenting him as a big spender and too liberal for the district.

"[4] Austin developed an attack-oriented strategy and began tying Levitas' liberal votes to those of New York Democratic Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro (vice presidential running mate of Walter Mondale).

Austin organized and hired Swindall's new staff but resigned in June 1985 to start his own political and media affairs consulting practice.