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

Published May 22, 2024 10:01pm ET



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. 

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