Soft-on-crime prosecutor Mike Schmidt trails challenger Nathan Vasquez in Portland-area DA race by 19 points

A new poll shows far-left Multnomah County, Oregon, District Attorney Mike Schmidt trailing his challenger, Nathan Vasquez.

The poll, conducted by DHM Research for Oregonian/OregonLive, has Vasquez leading Schmidt as voters say crime and drug issues are the most important issues facing the Portland area. 

Of the voters who cited crime as the most important problem, 70 percent said they would vote for Vasquez while only 4 percent chose soft on crime Schmidt.

Respondents who were given basic information about the candidates favored Vasquez by 50 percent to Schmidt’s 31 percent, with 19 percent undecided. Those numbers held regardless of demographic groups.

34 percent of respondents who were not given information about the candidates chose Vasquez 34 percent to Schmidt’s 22 percent, with 44 percent undecided.

The poll was conducted from April 25 to April 30 of 300 Multnomah County voters, and has a margin of error of 5.7 percent.

83 percent of Vasquez supporters favored local governments banning the homeless from camping in public spaces, while 66 percent of Schmidt supporters said the homeless should have the right to camp in public spaces.

However, overall, Multnomah County voters, by a 63 percent to 27 percent margin, favor banning camping in public places.

The polling stacked up similarly on the issue of treating drug use as a crime.

According to the Oregonian, Vasquez has raised over $1 million to Schmidt’s $800,000.

If a candidate garners over 50 percent of the vote in the primary, they will win the election but won’t take office until January 2025. The primary will take place on May 21.
 

According to Oregon Public Broadcasting, Vasquez has worked as a Multnomah County prosecutor since 2001, and switched from the Republican party to independent in 2017 over his "disgust" with Trump.