The defeat of Portland, Oregon’s progressive DA Mike Schmidt two weeks ago shows just how rapidly voters can pivot when confronted with reality.
Schmidt was elected to office in 2020 with 77 percent of the vote. He lost his reelection bid to his former employee, Nathan Vasquez, 46 percent for Schmidt and 54 percent for Vasquez.
That’s a 31-percent swing in just four years.
And no wonder. The Soros-backed DA implemented his “progressive” agenda immediately, exchanging being tough on criminals for spending taxpayer monies revisiting their jail sentences. Instead of enforcing the law, he officially declined to prosecute what he called “low level” crimes, such as shoplifting and possession of illegal drugs.
He supported Measure 110, which removed criminal penalties for possession of small amounts of all drugs, and when protests mounted against the law (which was later removed), he continued to support it.
But his shining hour of progressivism appeared during the riots following the death of George Floyd in May 2020. Police referred nearly 1,100 cases to his office for prosecution for crimes committed by the Antifa “protesters.”
Schmidt rejected 895 of them, and sent the rioters back out onto the streets.
The impact was immediate. Encouraged by the lack of any threat by law enforcement, the radicals created an “autonomous zone” free of any interference by police. The lawless sanctuary was finally removed in December 2020, and only after the mayor apologized to the protesters.
Schmidt’s actions aroused the ire of Portland Police Association President Daryl Turner, who called on Schmidt and the mayor to “step up and do your job,” terming Schmidt’s progressive agenda as “insane” and describing Schmidt’s platform of police accountability “a thinly veiled threat to indict police officers.”
The results were predictable, and likely intended by the Soros-selected and -funded radical: crime increased, businesses closed, and law enforcement officers resigned and moved away.
Homicides hit a record high of 73 in 2022, and the city was forced to declare a state of emergency following an explosion in the number of fentanyl deaths.
All of which added to the growing concern nationally of crime and the lack of prosecution across the country. Pew Research Center reports that six out of 10 Americans declare that reducing crime should be one of the “top political priorities” in the country this year. And a Gallup poll from late last year found personal-safety fears at a three-decade high nationwide.
A December poll noted that two-thirds of those living in Portland said the city is “on the wrong track” while half — half! — would consider leaving the city if they could afford to.
Justin Matheson, a Republican consultant familiar with the results of Schmidt’s progressive policies, said that residents of the city are “seeing drug deals happening right in front of their homes or schools or coffee shops … they’re just feeling that lawlessness pretty aggressively.”
Schmidt is just the latest in an increasingly lengthy list of Soros-backed DAs infesting the country who have been shown the door in recent years.
There’s San Francisco’s former DA Chesa Boudin, who was recalled in 2022.
There’s California’s Alameda County’s DA Pamela Price, who is facing a push to recall her, along with LA’s DA George Gascón.
There’s State’s Attorney Kim Foxx in Cook County, Illinois, who, rather than face losing her reelection bid, opted not to run for another term.
Other Soros-backed prosecutors living on borrowed time include Atlanta’s DA Fani Willis, who has misused the RICO statute to go after former President Donald Trump while ignoring a surge in homicides and thefts in her city.
Ashley Hayek, executive director of America First Works, expanded the list of those in jeopardy of losing their jobs thanks to voters having serious second thoughts:
Manhattan’s Alvin Bragg has refused to prosecute a range of crimes, resulting in a 44% spike in crime in his first quarter.
Los Angeles’ George Gascón has overseen a dramatic rise in homicides and faced multiple recall attempts.
Philadelphia’s Larry Krasner has let the city descend into chaos, with gun violence and homicides rampant under his watch.
Hennepin County’s Mary Moriarty has been so lenient that even progressive Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison had to intervene.
Schmidt’s replacement, Nathan Vasquez, says he is “committed to ending open air drug dealing and drug use while helping connect individuals to treatment, to rebuilding the broken relationships between the DA’s office and the community, and to ensuring that victims are the number one priority of my office.”
He won’t take office until January 2025.
