Incumbent Assemblyman Mike Schmidt is currently seeking re-election for a second term as Multnomah County District Attorney, facing challenges from within his own office.
MULTNOMA COUNTY, Ore. — Mike Schmidt and Nathan Vasquez are vying for the Multnomah County district attorney’s job, and the battle is proving to be contentious. Mr. Vasquez, the county’s chief deputy district attorney, has been at odds with his boss, blaming Mr. Schmidt for a host of problems, from 911 policy to homelessness.
The specific attack ad targeting Schmidt being aired was paid for by the Nathan Vasquez campaign, and it’s worth fact-checking that claim. Tomorrow on his KGW “The Story,” we’ll feature another attack ad focused on Vazquez.
Let’s take a closer look at the ad line by line.
“District Attorney Mike Schmidt encouraged the release of violent criminals, but they committed further crimes, including those related to the deaths of four women.”
The statement links to an August 16, 2023 Oregonian article. The statement reported that a man named Jesse Lee Calhoun was a person of interest in the deaths of four Portland-area women and described former Gov. Kate Brown as unemployed. Forty-one inmates who helped fight deadly wildfires that tore through western Oregon in 2020 have been sentenced.
Calhoun was one of those men, even writing a letter to KGW claiming he was “not a murderer.” Calhoun is currently in the Snake River Correctional Facility in eastern Oregon on charges unrelated to the women’s deaths. He has not been charged in any of those cases.
RELATED: Prosecutors seek charges against man involved in deaths of multiple women released from prison
A spokesperson for the district attorney’s office said the office received 59 applications from people seeking reduced sentences. Mr. Schmidt opposed 34 of them and upheld the rest, but a spokesperson said Mr. Schmidt was not given a meaningful opportunity to respond on Calhoun and did not provide any feedback.
The article reports that Brown ultimately commuted the sentences of at least 23 people in Multnomah County, including Calhoun. At least two others who were released were later arrested for crimes.
Although the article itself does not report that Mr. Schmidt actually “encouraged” Mr. Calhoun’s release, it is accurate and true that Mr. Schmidt supported and did not oppose commuting the sentences of those released. Several individuals were charged with new crimes or suspected of committing new crimes.
“Under Mike Schmidt, there were more murders than Seattle and San Francisco combined.”
Context is important in this case.
If you look at the first three months of this year, that’s accurate. Portland had 22 homicides during the same period, Seattle had nine and San Francisco had eight, according to police reports.
Looking at the yearly trends, things are a little different. Portland had no more homicides than her two other cities combined the previous year. But on a year-over-year basis from 2020, Portland still has more homicides than Seattle or San Francisco.
The ad doesn’t specify a time period, but Vazquez made the same point in a debate here at KGW, so we can assume that’s the time period they meant. Therefore, it is safe to say that this claim is accurate.
“Gun violence is at an all-time high. We must enforce gun control.”
It cites the Portland Police Bureau as saying there has been a 48% increase in shootings over the past three years and pegs the date to January 20, 2023. In the advertising graph, that number has increased since 2019 and surpassed it in 2020.
But what the ad doesn’t say is that mass shootings will be lower in 2023 than they have been in the past two years, and that they’re on track to decline even further this year.
RELATED: Portland saw 22% drop in gun violence last year, new data shows
Therefore, while the claims in the advertisement are technically accurate for the time period studied, they do not represent the complete picture. Schmidt is still the prosecutor, and if you blame him for the increased shooting percentage, you should also blame him for the decreased shooting percentage.
“Under Schmidt’s administration, companies will exit because of crime.”
This is mostly true, but there are some caveats. Crime was REI’s first reason for leaving the Pearl District, but it was not the only reason. Nike had similar reasons for abandoning its efforts to reopen a long-closed community store in Northeast Portland. Other major retailers and local businesses will also close stores in 2023, either not renewing leases or closing permanently.
That said, subsequent research suggests it’s not always as clear-cut as retailers would like to claim. When Target closed three stores in Portland last year solely because of crime, they weren’t the stores most affected by crime. According to a CNBC investigation, many of the stores Target closed across the U.S. during that period were “small” stores. Maybe the performance was bad.
consensus
Overall, this ad is accurate, but lacks context regarding shooting statistics and store closures.
