Are Portlanders ready for a change?

According to reports, Multnomah County prosecutor Nathan Vasquez has a significant lead to unseat George Soros-backed incumbent District Attorney Mike Schmidt.

The Post Millennial reports that local media called the race at approximately 9:30 p.m. local time with Vasquez leading 58 percent to 42 percent.

FOX 12 Oregon currently lists Vasquez as the projected winner with 56 percent.

“Soros is pouring big bucks into the campaign to gaslight voters about the record killings, riots & drug ODs under Schmidt’s leadership,” Andy Ngo previously noted.

“In a non-partisan primary, if a candidate garners over 50 percent of the vote, they are declared the winner of the election but don’t take office until January 2025,” The Post Millennial stated.

From The Post Millennial:

According to the Oregonian, Vasquez, a longtime prosecutor, began working for the District Attorney’s office fresh out of law school. Over the last 24 years, he worked his way up the chain to become a supervisor.

Vasquez’s campaign focused on Schmidt’s soft-on-crime policies that have led to the deterioration of downtown Portland which has become overrun with homelessness and drugs.

Since he won in 2020, Schmidt has been criticized by the union that represents prosecutors which ended up endorsing Vasquez. Downtown business groups also backed Vasquez.

The Oregon Bureau of Labor & Industries found last year substantial evidence in favor of former prosecutor Amber Kinney, who alleged when she quit in 2022 that Schmidt had created a “workplace culture of fear, intimidation, and retaliation,” and had set women’s advancement in the office back by “decades.”

Despite an influx of cash before the race, Schmidt couldn’t overcome his putrid record.

“The bruising race 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,” Oregon Live noted.

Schmidt is the latest Soros-backed DA to receive the boot.

Oregon Live reports:

Nationally, Schmidt is the latest progressive DA to face the prospect of defeat. Two years ago, San Francisco voters recalled reformer Chesa Boudin and the top prosecutor in Chicago, Kim Foxx, who also championed changes to the justice system, faced intense backlash and announced earlier this year she would not seek reelection.

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.

Schmidt had previously worked for about six years as a Multnomah County prosecutor and eventually went on to lead the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission, a state agency charged with crunching criminal justice data for policymakers.

“Schmidt was voted out in a disgraceful landslide defeat despite having huge cash injections of Soros money and winning over 76% of the vote in 2020,” Ngo said.

“I am committed to ending the open-air drug use – to ending the open air drug dealing that we have suffered from as a community,” Vasquez told supporters.

“I am also committed to restoring that idea that it is OK to hold people accountable and do it in a compassionate manner,” he added.

Oregon Public Broadcasting noted:

Vasquez, a longtime Republican, registered as a member of the Independent Party in 2017. Yet Schmidt, a Democrat, has painted him as a conservative in campaign mailers, pointing out that several of his donors have also given to Donald Trump, and noting that Vasquez, a gun owner, previously voted against gun control measures.

Vasquez has, for his part, chastised Schmidt for taking money from the New York-based organization that backed Measure 110, the controversial ballot measure that decriminalized small amounts of drugs in Oregon (which has since been pared down by the state Legislature).

In his remarks on Election Night, Vasquez reiterated that he was committed to connecting people to treatment. Under his leadership, he said the office would also always make victims a top priority. ”I vowed to stand up for this community and to fight for victims,” Vasquez said. “And as I stand before you tonight, my commitment to fight for this community and to stand up for victims is unwavering and unchanged.”

 

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