Two prosecutor candidates in Virginia backed by liberal billionaire George Soros have ousted the incumbents in upset victories during Tuesday's primary in the state.
Soros used his Justice & Public Safety PAC to push nearly $1 million total to Parisa Dehghani-Tafti, a former defense lawyer who ran in the Arlington County Commonwealth's attorney race against incumbent Democrat Theo Stamos, and Steve Descano, a former Justice Department employee who ran in Fairfax County against longtime incumbent Democrat Ray Morrogh.
Tafti defeated Stamos by 700 votes and a 2.8 percent margin (51.41 to 48.59 percent) while Descano defeated Morrogh by 1,454 votes and a 2.1 percent margin (51.05 to 48.95 percent), according to the Virginia Department of Elections.
Tafti and Descano were both at a major money advantage for such a race with the help of Soros, who provided a the vast majority of their funds. Virginia was the latest area Soros has injected his money in recent years a bid to "overhaul" the criminal justice system.
The billionaire has already funded progressive district attorney and prosecutor candidates in a number of states including California, Florida, Illinois, Mississippi, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Texas, and New Mexico.
Soros's preferred candidates, for the most part, have won their respective races. However, the financier hit a roadblock in California last year, where a number of his backed candidates were defeated.