Ore­gon dis­trict attor­ney los­es pri­ma­ry elec­tion over ‘soft-on-crime’ rep­u­ta­tion

Mike Schmidt, the dis­trict attor­ney for Mult­nom­ah Coun­ty in Ore­gon who was crit­i­cized for being too “soft on crime,” lost his pri­ma­ry race to one of his own deputy pros­e­cu­tors.
Schmidt was defeat­ed by Nathan Vasquez, who gar­nered about 54% of the vote as of Wednes­day evening. Schmidt’s defeat could serve as a bell­wether for oth­er pro­gres­sive dis­trict attor­neys across the coun­try as some major cities grap­ple with ris­ing crime rates. 
“The vot­ers have made it clear that they are ready to take our coun­ty in a new and safer direc­tion,” Vasquez said in a Face­book post Wednes­day cel­e­brat­ing the vic­to­ry.
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Schmidt was first appoint­ed to the posi­tion in August 2020 amid a sum­mer of social jus­tice protests stem­ming from the death of George Floyd by police offi­cers in Min­neso­ta ear­li­er that year. Short­ly after tak­ing office, Schmidt announced pro­test­ers would not be pros­e­cut­ed unless they were charged with spe­cif­ic crimes such as prop­er­ty dam­age, theft, or threat of force against anoth­er per­son.

Nathan Vasquez responds to Mult­nom­ah Coun­ty Dis­trict Attor­ney Mike Schmidt, not see …