Incumbent Assemblywoman Sabrina Cervantes is declaring victory in one of California’s closest and costliest Assembly races.

“Representing the people of Western Riverside County in the Capitol has been the greatest privilege of my life,” Cervantes, a Democrat from Riverside, said in a campaign statement issued late Monday, Nov. 26.

“I am so humbled by the trust that voters from all walks of life and all political affiliations have placed in me by choosing me to once again represent their families in the state Assembly.”

Results posted by the Registrar of Voters on Monday evening showed Cervantes leading Republican challenger Bill Essayli by 5,111 votes, 52-to-48 percent in the race for the 60th Assembly seat, which covers part of Riverside as well as Norco, Corona and several other cities. Though the vote count initially showed the candidates swapping leads — and at one point Cervantes led by just three votes – Cervantes recently has been gaining votes, her lead more than doubling in the past ten days.

Essayli, a former federal prosecutor, isn’t conceding, pointing out that more than 60,000 votes still aren’t counted.

“It’s important that we listen to every voice,” Essayli said in an emailed statement.

Countywide, about 21,000 vote-by-mail ballots and 45,000 provisional ballots remained to be counted going into Tuesday.

Cervantes, a former legislative aide and daughter of former Coachella Mayor Greg Cervantes, faced a tough test in defending her seat for the first time. Republicans targeted the 60th as a pickup opportunity in their fight to prevent a Democratic supermajority in Sacramento.

Essayli made Cervantes’ vote for SB 1, a transportation funding package that raised California’s gas tax, a central theme to his campaign. He hoped voter backlash over the gas tax in a district full of commuters would catapult him to victory.

To help Cervantes, Democrats poured money into her campaign, and independent expenditure committees paid for ads touting her and attacking Essayli. Some ads tried linking Essayli to President Donald Trump, an unpopular figure in blue California.

Cervantes and Essayli raised more than $5 million combined for their campaigns, making the race for the 60th one of the Inland Empire’s most expensive.

Other close election-night contests in Riverside County included races for two seats on the Riverside County Board of Supervisors.

In District 2 – Corona, Norco, Eastvale, Jurupa Valley, and part of Riverside – Corona Mayor Karen Spiegel now leads Linder, the former assemblyman, by 3,991 votes. While her margin has grown with each vote count, Spiegel on Tuesday said she wasn’t ready to declare victory.

In District 5 – the Pass, Moreno Valley, Perris, and Menifee – Calimesa Mayor Jeff Hewitt leads former GOP assemblyman Russ Bogh by 1,845 votes. Hewitt, a Libertarian, trailed Bogh before closing the gap in subsequent vote-count updates and taking the lead Nov. 19.