Nathan Vasquez set to be Multnomah County's next district attorney | The Story | May 22, 2024

May 22 on The Story: When early results for Tuesday's primary came out last night, Senior Deputy District Attorney Nathan Vasquez held a commanding lead over his boss, elected Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt. By Wednesday afternoon, the race was decided. Schmidt conceded and The Oregonian called the race in favor of his challenger. But it will be months before any actual changing of the guard: Vasquez isn't set to take office until January 1 of next year. The Story's Pat Dooris spoke to him this morning about what he expects to do in the meantime as he both prepares to take office and continues his work as a prosecutor.
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[@emilysmith259]

I would be curious about how he will handle lower level crimes that have been plaguing Portland like shoplifting, vandalism and street racing. Many of those are repeat offenders and under our previous DA have gotten a slap on the wrist or not even prosecuted which has lead to more of the same type of crime - much of which has been fueled by the drug, homeless and mental health epidemic. But I'm looking forwards to seeing some change. I think it's time we let traditional justice take a turn.

[@whiskeymonk4085]

And lethal assaults on reporters having all charges dropped. Arson charges dropped. Vandalism charges dropped. Dropped dropped dropped. And folks wonder why Portland is a hellscape.

[@granthuling3235]

Thank you for your service, Vasquez. Someone needed to step in on behalf of victims. All Schmidt ever talked about were reasons we have to be softer on crime. He never spoke about victims.

[@proximap2151]

Still counting ballots.. jc