Media Source:

AP

Media URL:

https://apnews.com/article/portland-oregon-progressive-district-attorney-election-430d10da16f9446201925e940d715d98

Date:

2024/05/20

Summary:

In 2020, Portlanders overwhelmingly voted Mike Schmidt into office as district attorney. So why is the current heated election race between Schmidt and Nathan Vasquez (both Lewis & Clark Law School alums) drawing national attention? “Beginning in about 2020, you see this rise of the progressive prosecutor, but some of those candidates were replaced or recalled,” explains Lewis & Clark Political Science Professor Todd Lochner, in a “backlash to what is perceived, correctly or incorrectly, as prosecutors who are not as zealous in convicting people as some might prefer.” Why would voters in Portland and across the country shift their support so quickly? “Generally speaking, tough on crime sells well,” notes Lochner. And when it comes to entrenched problems, “if people perceive those problems are not materially getting better, then they would vote for the challenger under the premise that, well, let’s just let someone else give it a try.”