Moreno Valley Mayor Ulises Cabrera was leading toward reelection after Tuesday’s general election, topping a field of six candidates in early returns posted by the Riverside County Registrar of Voters. The results remain unofficial, and vote counting is expected to continue in the coming days.
According to The Press-Enterprise, Cabrera received 44.35% of the vote in returns attributed to the Riverside County Registrar of Voters, which posted results on Wednesday. A separate snapshot of the registrar’s Update #8 report lists a different figure for Cabrera, 45.40% on 8,341 votes, an inconsistency that underscores just how preliminary these numbers still are. Either way, Cabrera holds a clear edge in a crowded six-candidate contest, though nothing is final yet.
That uncertainty is baked into the process itself. Riverside County’s Update #8 was issued Tuesday night into Wednesday at 4:07 a.m., and as of that update, results remained unofficial with roughly 496,000 mail and conditional-registration ballots still to count, per Valley News. That’s a substantial pile of outstanding ballots countywide, and it means the current lead, however comfortable it looks on paper, could still shift before the count is certified.
Cabrera Reacts as the Count Continues
Cabrera commented on social media that “the work continues,” a brief message posted as the early returns rolled in. The mayor has been a fixture at City Hall in recent months, including an appearance at a Moreno Valley City Council meeting back in February, and Tuesday’s lead suggests voters are, for now, inclined to keep him there for another term.
This isn’t the first time Cabrera has found himself ahead early on election night. In the Nov. 8, 2022, mayoral race, Cabrera was also out front in early returns, a contest that at the time featured issues including homelessness, public safety and transparency, the same report notes. That 2022 field included opponents Patsy D. Brown, Debra D. Craig, Jamie C. Hurtado, James Early Sr. and Lindsay Robinson, and came just a week after Cabrera was censured by his council colleagues over his treatment of a former city employee described in a report.
Flock Safety Ties Shadowed the Campaign
This year’s race carried its own pre-election controversy, centered on Cabrera’s past employment with the surveillance company Flock Safety. Cabrera worked for Flock from February to June 2024 as a community engagement manager, according to the same Press-Enterprise reporting. The city itself has business with that same company: Moreno Valley entered a five-year, $2.86 million contract with Flock in July 2023 for surveillance cameras and license plate readers.
That overlap drew pointed criticism from rival candidates ahead of Tuesday’s vote. Mayoral candidate Rylee Peak called the situation “definitely very concerning,” while fellow candidate Vanessa Moore raised concerns about the appearance of a conflict of interest, the outlet reported. Cabrera pushed back on those characterizations, saying, “I have followed the appropriate guidance and recused myself from voting on matters involving my employer during and after my employment.”
Whether those concerns swayed any voters remains unclear, and the full picture of Tuesday’s outcome won’t come into focus until Riverside County works through the ballots still left to process. For now, Cabrera’s campaign is treating the early lead as a sign the city’s six-candidate mayoral field is breaking his way once again.
