Leftist Democrats suffered an electoral beatdown in their own backyard of Portland, Oregon, this week, and not even megadonor George Soros could save them.

The party’s woke wing came up short Tuesday in key primary races, a sign that even blue-state voters are having second thoughts about the social-justice revolution amid rising crime, homelessness, open drug abuse and antisemitism.

How bad was it? Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt, a so-called “Soros DA” elected with the support of the Democratic megadonor, was losing Wednesday by 56% to 44% to Nathan Vasquez, a veteran tough-on-crime prosecutor who was until a few years ago a registered Republican.

Just four years ago, Mr. Schmidt won with 77% of the vote. His decision to drop an estimated 90% of riot-related cases from the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests and pursue “restorative justice” became an issue in a city plagued by lawlessness and drug overdoses.

Clackamas County Commissioner Ben West congratulated Mr. Vasquez after his Tuesday primary win, saying that “finally, Portland will have a DA that respects the rule of law!”

“With this electoral outcome, Portland and all of Oregon got safer, more just, more respected, and less ideologically extreme,” said Mr. West on X.

The race had not been called as of late Wednesday. Mr. Schmidt and Mr. Vasquez are the only two contenders, so whoever leads will win the post outright as long as he receives more than 50% of the vote.

In another closely watched race, the Congressional Progressive Caucus lost an opportunity to pad its numbers with the Democratic primary defeat of Susheela Jayapal, a former Multnomah County commissioner, who lost to Oregon state Rep. Maxine Dexter.

Ms. Dexter will succeed retiring Democratic Rep. Earl Blumenauer, who has represented the district for 27 years.

In addition, voters picked Democratic state Rep. Janelle Bynum over her more leftist opponent, attorney Jamie McLeod-Skinner, in the 5th Congressional District primary. Ms. Bynum will face Republican Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer in November.

With 63% of the vote counted, Ms. Dexter, a doctor, had garnered 51% of the vote and was declared the winner by the Associated Press. Ms. Jayapal was in second place with 28%. The other four candidates split the remaining votes.

“I want to congratulate Rep. Maxine Dexter for winning the Democratic primary for Oregon’s 3rd Congressional District,” Mr. Blumenauer said in a Wednesday statement. “Maxine has proven herself to be a serious and effective legislator. I am confident she’ll take this success with her to Washington, D.C.”

Others congratulating Ms. Dexter included the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which said its members were “proud to support Maxine Dexter against her anti-Israel opponent.”

“Being pro-Israel is good policy and good politics!” the group said Wednesday on X.

Ms. Dexter benefited from the support of the 314 Action Fund, which spent $2.2 million on ads on her behalf and whose donors included Israel supporters such as New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, while Voters for Responsive Government spent $3.2 million against Ms. Jayapal’s bid.
 
Susheela Jayapal congratulated her opponent for her victory in a Wednesday statement while blasting the “outside super PACs [that] came in and spent an unprecedented $6 million.”

Pramila Jayapal, the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, is “among the most outspoken critics of Israel in the House,” according to Jewish Insider, and her sister also raised concerns among Jewish and pro-Israel voters following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israeli civilians and others.

Susheela Jayapal condemned Hamas’s “appalling terror attack on Israel” shortly after the attack and called for a ceasefire in November, blaming “the Netanyahu government’s response” for a “horrific humanitarian tragedy.”

As a commissioner, Susheela Jayapal voted against a resolution to light the Morrison Bridge in Portland in blue and white and refused to sign a joint commission statement of support for Israel.

“I don’t think I can acknowledge the loss of one group when there are Palestinian lives being lost as well,” Ms. Jayapal said, according to an Oct. 12 article in the Willamette Week.

She issued instead a statement condemning Hamas’s “appalling terror attack on Israel,” and said her “heart breaks for all those across Israel and Palestine who are living in a state of war.”

Mr. Schmidt’s all-but-certain defeat follows those of other defendant-friendly prosecutors, including the 2022 recall of San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin and the 2022 primary ouster of Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby.

“This is a big deal. Another far-left, Soros-funded prosecutor was just defeated by a tough-on-crime challenger,” said the patriotic public-policy group America 2100. “This happened in Portland, Oregon—one of the most left-wing cities in the country. The soft-on-crime era is coming to an end.”

• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.