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.
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…
