Austion said he was proud to be the first person in his family to graduate and that he grew up in urban poverty, sometimes living in homeless shelters with his mother and siblings or sleeping in a car.

“I was the first in my family to graduate college and continue to pursue higher education after that,” he said. “I take great pride in that.”

Austion said his proudest professional achievement was developing a partnership between Koch Industries and the United Negro College Fund to focus on scholarships.

The Democratic candidate for the seat is Jennifer Foy, who edged Josh King in the June primary by just 12 votes, 2,182 to 2,170, according to the Department of Elections.

Kurt Lofquist, Austion’s new campaign manager, issued a statement from him Friday with further explanation.

“First, regarding the LinkedIn Page, I never really kept that updated and hardly refer to it as a standard for which to gather information on — or anyone else for that matter. All of my campaign literature has been consistent in stating that I am “pursuing” a PhD in Public Policy,” the statement said.