Multnomah County voters are poised to fire one-term incumbent District Attorney Mike Schmidt and replace him with Nathan Vasquez, a longtime prosecutor who mounted a fierce and costly challenge to unseat his boss.
Partial returns as of 8:02 p.m. Tuesday show Vasquez leading 58% to 42%.
After the initial results were announced, Schmidt released a statement calling the race “hard-fought” and saying it was too early to call the winner. “Regardless of the outcome, I want to thank this community for the incredible support they have shown in this campaign,” Schmidt said as he gathered with supporters at the Jupiter Hotel in East Burnside.
Vasquez watched the results come in with his supporters at the Hoxton Hotel on Fourth Avenue Northwest. He has not yet issued a statement.
His campaign relied heavily on his experience as a prosecutor and advocate for crime victims.
He began his role straight out of law school about 24 years ago and stayed there, rising through the ranks to become a supervisor and handling some of the office’s most serious cases, including homicides and violent political extremism.
OREGON ELECTIONS 2024: Live results page | Election Page
Vasquez, 47, focused on what he called Schmidt’s inability to lead, whether on crime, State in downtown Portland or within the office. He accused Schmidt of standing aside while public use of fentanyl proliferated and called attention to Schmidt’s changing views on Measure 110, Oregon’s first drug decriminalization law in the country.
Schmidt, meanwhile, faced a radically different political landscape than when he ran in 2020, as his message failed to resonate with voters who enthusiastically elected him there. four years ago after a campaign that highlighted racial and ethnic disparities in the justice system.
Nationally, Schmidt is the latest progressive DA to face defeat. Two years ago, San Francisco voters recalled reformer Chesa Boudin and Chicago’s top prosecutor, Kim Foxx, who also championed changes to the justice system, faced intense backlash and announced earlier this year that she would not run again.
Schmidt, 43, campaigned on what he described as his achievements: a reduction in car and catalytic converter thefts and the creation of a specialized court focused on rehabilitation rather than incarceration of some offenders violent. He also touted his efforts to advocate for comprehensive policies, such as making minor drug possession a felony again.
Schmidt previously worked for about six years as Multnomah County’s prosecutor and eventually led the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission, a state agency responsible for processing criminal justice data for policymakers.
From the start, Schmidt faced harsh criticism from within his own ranks. The union that represents prosecutors supported Vasquez.
Last year, the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries found substantial evidence in favor of former prosecutor Amber Kinney, who claimed when she resigned in 2022 that Schmidt had delayed by “decades » the advancement of women in the office.
More recently, a senior prosecutor in the office accused Schmidt of circumventing policies by reviewing clemency requests and making a promotion decision based on political loyalty.
This deadly race made history, raising record amounts of money. Downtown business interests backed Vasquez, and pro-reform donors, including a group with ties to Democratic megadonor George Soros, pumped Schmidt’s coffers with last-minute donations.
Although Schmidt lagged behind in fundraising for much of the race, he caught up to Vasquez in the final weeks, campaign finance filings show. They each raised about $1.1 million, unheard of in the Multnomah County DA race.
In nonpartisan primaries like this one, if a candidate gets more than 50 percent of the vote, they win the job, giving them more than seven months to prepare to take office in January.
The salary for the four-year position increases to $272,725 in July.
— Noelle Crombie is a business journalist specializing in the justice system. Contact her at 503-276-7184; ncrombie@oregonian.
Our journalism needs your support. Subscribe today to OregonLive.com.
News Source : www.oregonlive.com
Gn world
