Yxstian Gutierrez Wins Historic Supervisor Race

Yxstian Gutierrez Wins Historic Supervisor Election for Riverside County

MORENO VALLEY ­– Moreno Valley Mayor Yxstian Gutierrez has won election to the Riverside County Board of Supervisors, his campaign announced. Election results released Tuesday evening show Gutierrez leads incumbent Fifth District Supervisor Jeff Hewitt by a margin of more than over 6,500 votes.

The trend among late vote-by-mail ballots indicates that Gutierrez will likely continue to grow his lead as more votes are tabulated.

Gutierrez’s election is historic on many fronts. He is just the second Latino ever elected to the Riverside County Board of Supervisors, and he is likely to be the first immigrant in the board’s history. At 37, he will also be one of the youngest Supervisors in the county’s history. His election marks just the third time since 2000 that an incumbent Supervisor was defeated.

Hewitt, an unsuccessful candidate for Assembly District 42 in the June 7, 2016, Primary Election, was fined $4,923 in 2021 in connection with his failed Assembly bid.

Also in 2021, Riverside County paid $50,000 to settle a sexual harassment claim involving Supervisor Hewitt. The county, not insurance, paid the claim. The civil claim, filed Nov. 13, was filed by a lawyer on behalf of Nasim Nicole Hamrang, a clinical therapist in the county’s behavioral health department.

Hewitt was one of a handful of elected leaders to run in the gubernatorial recall election of Gavin Newsom. He received about 1.1% of the vote. in Riverside County.

“Jeff Hewitt’s disastrous campaign for Governor has weakened his chances for re-election to the Board of Supervisors, assuming he even seeks re-election” Derek Humphrey, a consultant to Moreno Valley Mayor Yxstian Gutierrez, said at the time. Turns out Humprey was right,

In response to the election results, Gutierrez released the following statement:

“At its best, Riverside County is a place of striking natural beauty, economic opportunity, and safe communities where families can grow, and seniors can retire with dignity and security. I launched my campaign for County Supervisor because I want to contribute to solving the problems our communities face and help Riverside County live up to its promise. I’m humbled by the support I received from voters across the Fifth District, and I’m looking forward to bringing people together and finding common ground in order to get things done. I can’t wait to get to work.”

Gutierrez is a teacher and community leader who has served as Mayor of Moreno Valley since 2016. As the city’s first directly elected Mayor, Gutierrez has a proven record of creating jobs, ensuring safe neighborhoods, protecting public health, initiating various youth programs, and tackling the homelessness crisis with urgency.

Gutierrez previously served on Moreno Valley’s City Council, owned and operated the Berrybean Cafe, taught in the Moreno Valley Unified School District, and worked as a reading instructor at Moreno Valley College.