Schmidt v Vasquez: The battle to be Multnomah County DA

Mike Schmidt was elected DA in May 2020. Nathan Vasquez. has been a prosecutor for 23 years. They face off in the May 21 primary.

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) -- Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt faces a tough re-election challenge from within his own office.

Senior prosecutor Nathan Vasquez wants Schmidt's job, and Vasquez is on the attack blaming Schmidt for Portland's problems.

There are obviously big differences between the two men- -- including what it is the Multnomah County District Attorney should do.

Over time, KOIN 6 News spoke with both men and put together this story based on those interviews.

The basics

The Multnomah County District Attorney's Office has 260 employees and a $50 million budget.

Mike Schmidt was elected DA in May 2020, earning 76% of the vote. A Lewis & Clark Law School graduate, he is the former executive director of the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission. Schmidt took office during a volatile time in Portland as the pandemic raged as well as the streets during the George Floyd protests

Nathan Vasquez, who has been a prosecutor for 23 years, is also a Lewis & Clark alum. He is a senior deputy in the DA's office and has run the DA's neighborhood unit.

"This is not a trial position," Schmidt said. "I've run a state agency, managed budgets, HR and grown these things. That's the kind of experience that matters in this job, and that's why I'm running again."

"Our community has become unrecognizable and unsafe, and it's compelled me to take on this role because what we need is a professional prosecutor and not a politician running that office," Vasquez said. "His very first effort as a DA was to come forward and tell the community all the things he wasn't going to prosecute."

Schmidt refutes that.

"I've consistently increased the budget for the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office, and every year I've been district attorney, prosecution rates have increased," he said. "Now they are at 7- and 8-year highs."

That's true. But what's also true is that Multnomah County is also issuing charges in fewer cases than before the pandemic -- from nearly 13,000 in 2018 to just over 8000 in 2023.

Measure 110

Although Schmidt was an early supporter of Measure 110, both he and Vasquez applaud the changes the Oregon legislature made to recriminalize street drugs.

But they differ in their view of the role the DA's office plays when the changes take effect September 1.

Vasquez said the changes mean more people going to jail "if they're dealing drugs to our children. Absolutely. If they are out there causing problems in a way with the disorder that we've seen in the past few years. I'm not afraid for people who are committing violent crimes that they should go to jail. When we are talking about individuals that are suffering from substance abuse disorder, that's about connecting people to treatment."

Schmidt said there was no doubt people will go to jail because of the changes to Measure 110.

"But, my goal, and I think the goal of the legislation is to get people connected to treatment as much as possible and at every opportunity give them the option to engage in treatment as much as possible so that we don't have to use jail," he said. "Jail is the last resort."

And Schmidt pointed out he lobbied the Oregon legislature to changes Measure 110 once he realized it wasn't working. He helped secure $25 million for a detox drop-off center that Multnomah County is now moving forward with.

"We just need to make sure the drop off center is something that they are going to use," he said.

What the DA does

Vasquez emphasizes his experience as Multnomah County's lead prosecutor. He's handled high profile felony cases, including murders, rapes and robberies. That's a major difference between the candidates.

"If you look just purely at his record, he's never tried a serious case. He's never handled a homicide. He's never done really even a complex or even not complex, really, assault case," Vasquez told KOIN 6 News.

Schmidt, who said he's "handled dozens of trials over my career," said that's not the primary job of the District Attorney.

He said he's significantly boosted the number of prosecutors in his office to nearly 100, partnered with law enforcement on the auto theft and retail theft task forces that have sent repeat offenders to prison, created a new homicide unit and is focusing on the root causes of Portland's record gun violence.

"The NRA historically has blocked our ability to study gun violence for decades," Schmidt said. "But I've partnered with OHSU to study gun violence locally like the public health issue and emergency that it is."

Morale

Schmidt sees the giant billboards, sponsored by People For Portland, blaming him for the condition of the city. Within his own office, several female employees have accused Schmidt of creating a hostile work environment.

"Look, I'm not going to sugarcoat it for you," Vasquez said. "Mike Schmidt has destroyed the morale in the DA's office, absolutely destroyed it. We've lost 50% of the attorneys in our office, 50% have walked out the door. That's a ton of experience. Those aren't retirements. Those are people leaving because morale's so bad."

Schmidt said there are other forces in play.

"The reason morale is so tough is probably the same reason it's been tough in all your industries. Over the pandemic, it has been hard," he said. "When I started with 72 prosecutors, caseloads were at an all-time high. We weren't resolving the cases. That's hard on prosecutors."

Meanwhile, the Oregon State Bar Association dismissed a complaint from a Lewis & Clark professor against Vasquez for a statement in this year's Voter's Pamphlet.

The statement said a violent criminal was released from prison and "once free, he murdered four women."

That suspect -- who was not named -- has not been charged with the murders. However, the OSB found no evidence of professional misconduct from Vasquez.

And the winner is ….

Although this is a non-partisan race, Schmidt identifies himself as a Democrat in the Voter's Pamphlet. He's endorsed by several Democratic organizations, the Portland Association of Teachers and social justice organizations including Basic Rights and the Latino Network.

Vasquez has the endorsement of several first responders and litigators, including firefighters unions in Portland and Gresham, the Portland Police Association and the Multnomah County Prosecuting Attorneys Association.

Mike Schmidt and Nathan Vasquez are the only two candidates in this race. Whoever wins the May 21 primary will be the next Multnomah County District Attorney.