After trailing since election night, Calimesa Mayor Jeff Hewitt now leads former GOP assemblyman Russ Bogh in the race for a Riverside County supervisor seat.

Updated results posted Monday evening, Nov. 19, show Hewitt leading Bogh by 266 votes; Hewitt first took the lead Sunday. Bogh had led since Election Day, but his lead started shrinking last week.

At stake is the District 5 seat representing the Pass, Moreno Valley, Perris, and Menifee on the Board of Supervisors. Bogh or Hewitt will replace Supervisor Marion Ashley, who is retiring.

In a telephone interview early Monday, Hewitt said he had been anticipating pulling ahead, given how he made up ground in the past five days.

“I’d say that if you’re going to bet in Vegas now, bet on me,” he said. However, “if I were my opponent, I wouldn’t concede or anything else.”

Hewitt said he believes early votes favored Bogh while later votes favored him.

Bogh declined to comment.

If Hewitt hangs on to win, he will have done so despite being out-raised by Bogh, who took in more than $858,000 for his campaign compared to more than $402,000 for Hewitt.

The race featured a contrast in bases of support. Bogh’s donors included two key county employee labor unions; the Riverside Sheriffs’ Association and Service Employees International Union Local 721, which is locked in a tense contract dispute with the board.

Bogh also received at least $150,000 in campaign money from his family.

Hewitt’s major benefactor has been Chris Rufer, owner of a tomato processing company and a donor to Libertarian candidates. Hewitt, who previously ran for Assembly and state Senate, sits on the Libertarian Party’s National Committee.

Leaders in other close election-night races in Riverside County are pulling away. In the 60th Assembly District, Assemblywoman Sabrina Cervantes, D-Riverside, leads Bill Essayli by 2,819 votes after trailing Essayli in early returns.

In the race for the District 2 seat on the Board of Supervisors, Corona Mayor Karen Spiegel’s lead over former Republican assemblyman Eric Linder has grown to 3,638 votes. She has led consistently since election night.

Countywide, about 86,000 vote-by-mail and 45,000 provisional ballots remain to be counted. The Registrar of Voters will post updated numbers at 5 p.m. Tuesday.