The people of Multnomah County, Oregon, have voted out progressive District Attorney Mike Schmidt, who was supported by groups associated with George Soros.
Voters in the county, which includes Portland, selected Nathan Vasquez as the next district attorney in a non-partisan primary Tuesday.
Vasquez, who has been a prosecutor in Multnomah County for more than two decades, ran a tough-on-crime crime campaign against Schmidt's more progressive one. Political observers said a defeat for Schmidt would be a referendum on his progressive ideas of prosecuting crime, KATU reports.
Just days into his tenure Schmidt angered local law enforcement and some of the public when he refused to prosecute most suspects arrested during the 2020 George Floyd protests and riots.
The bruising race between Schmidt and Vasquez made history, raking in record amounts of cash. Downtown business interests backed Vasquez and reform-minded donors, including a group with ties to Democratic megadonor George Soros, infused Schmidt’s coffers with last-minute donations, The Oregonian reports.
Schmidt, 43, campaigned on what he described as his accomplishments: a reduction in car and catalytic converter thefts and the start of a specialty court focused on rehabilitation over incarceration for some violent offenders. He also touted his efforts to advocate for big-picture policies like making minor drug possession a crime again.
Vasquez, 47, zeroed in on what he characterized as Schmidt’s failure to lead, whether it was on crime, the state of downtown Portland or within the office. He accused Schmidt of sitting on the sidelines as the public use of fentanyl proliferated and called attention to Schmidt’s shifting views of Measure 110, Oregon’s first-in-the-nation drug decriminalization law.
Vazquez told KATU he’s “looking to end open-air drug dealing, and then helping connect those individuals struggling with substance abuse disorder to treatment.”
He added that crime victims would be his number one priority.
