Former Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty Will Host Campaign Kickoff Event for DA Mike Schmidt

The first-term prosecutor faces a challenge from one of his staff.

Mike Schmidt attends a Candidates Gone Wild event in 2022. (Blake Benard)
By Nigel Jaquiss

One of the most polarizing figures in local politics will lend her name to kick off the reelection campaign of an ally next month.

Former Portland City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty will host a house party for incumbent Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt on July 13, according to an email Hardesty sent out June 28.

“Three years ago, in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, voters chose a new direction to make our community safety systems fairer, smarter and reduce disparities,” Hardesty said in the email. “We elected Mike Schmidt as District Attorney and he is getting the job done. In his first term, Schmidt has strategically added prosecutors to meet the challenges of gun violence and car thefts, and created the neighborhood district attorney program that is building trust and serving the community.”

Not everybody agrees with that rosy assessment. The dark money group People for Portland has targeted Schmidt with an online campaign of attack ads and a prominent billboard downtown. Some people affiliated with the group are helping Nathan Vasquez, a senior deputy distict attorney in Schmidt’s office, mount a challenge to the incumbent.

Schmidt has raised about $41,000 this year as he begins his reelection bid. Vasquez has raised about $27,000 so far. It’s far too early to attach any significance to either number: Schmidt is likely to tap into the national funders of criminal justice reform, while Vasquez will probably find strong financial support from disgruntled downtown businesses and property owners.

Hardesty lost a reelection bid last November to now-Commissioner Rene Gonzalez 53% to 47%. As a leading critic of the Portland Police Bureau, Hardesty suffered politically when shootings and car thefts spiked during the pandemic. Although she drew two strong challengers in the primary (the other was newcomer Vadim Mozyrsky), Hardesty got the most votes in the primary and ran a strong race against Gonzalez even in the face of a large independent expenditure campaign against her.

All of that is to say that the former legislator and commissioner retains a sizable base of support among Portland’s left—a group Schmidt will need to mobilize to keep his seat.

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