Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt lost re-election this week to challenger Nathan Vasquez, a senior deputy prosecutor in the D.A.’s office.
Not only did Vasquez win, he crushed the incumbent 54%-46% after telling voters he would “hold people accountable for lower level crimes, improve the office’s collaboration with law enforcement, and strengthen workplace morale,” according to an article by Oregon Public Broadcasting.
Randy Sutton, of The Wounded Blue, says Schmidt entered office in 2020 as an anti-police prosecutor.
“He has failed to prosecute many, many, many serious offenses,” Sutton says. “He is basically a Soros-funded prosecutor that lists himself as a ‘progressive,’ but what really means is, ‘I want to prosecute cops but I don't want to prosecute bad guys.’”
Multnomah County is home to approximately 784,800 in a metro area that includes Portland, home to about 616,800.
Once-beautiful Portland has become a dangerous, crime-ridden city after voters approved Ballot Measure 110 in 2020. That ballot measure decriminalized serious drugs, including heroin, cocaine, and meth, and the results were sad and predictable.
Oregon lawmakers passed legislation in March to reverse the ballot measure by making drug possession a misdemeanor. The state’s far-left governor, Tina Kotek, signed the bill into law April 1.
Before the D.A. election, a fact-check by NBC News affiliate KGW8 confirmed Portland recorded more homicides in 2024 than the cities of Seattle and San Francisco combined. Portland recorded 22 in those first three months compared to 9 in Seattle and 8 in San Francisco.
By comparison, the combined populations of Seattle and San Francisco are 1.5 million.
Sutton says Vasquez’s overwhelming win means Portland had enough of its liberal district attorney, and he predicts other crime-ridden communities are ready to vote for a candidate who gets tough on crime.
“I do expect to see more of this,” he says. “We're starting to see pushback, and it's time.”
