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Soros-Funded Va. Prosecutor Candidates Defeat Incumbents

Billionaire pushed nearly $1 million into two local races

George Soros / Getty Images
June 12, 2019

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.