He was not a candidate for re-election in 1872, but unsuccessfully ran as the Liberal Republican candidate for Governor. He returned to Jackson to resume a private law practice. He was a member of the University of Michigan board of regents from 1881 to 1889. In 1883, Blair was nominated for Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court Republican party, but was defeated. He died in Jackson and is interred at Mt. Evergreen Cemetery there. In 1895, the Michigan legislature appropriated $10,000 for a statue in Blair's memory. It was to be placed on Capitol Square, the only time that an actual person has been honored with a statue on the Capitol's grounds. Blair Township in Grand Traverse County is named after the late Austin Blair.