Updated at 8:25 a.m. Nov. 7:
Incumbent Randon Lane and newcomer Harry Ramos maintained their leads for two Murrieta City Council seats, according to polling results.
Lane, seeking his second term on city council, had garnered 36.26 percent of the vote as of 7:33 a.m. Wednesday, according to the Riverside County Registrar of Voters' website. Ramos had earned the second-most number of votes with 23.16 percent, the results showed.
Contender Paul Clay had 18.75 percent of the vote, Joel Phillips had 11.83 percent, David Mueting had 5.86 percent and Dan Strick had 4.14 percent.
The latest updated Riverside County elections results were posted just after 7:30 a.m. Wednesday.
"Election Night vote counting is complete, but results are not final. Information regarding provisional, vote-by-mail, and damaged ballots that require duplication and remain to be counted will be posted shortly," the registrar's office said via its Facebook page.
As results had begun to come in Tuesday night, Lane, who celebrated election night at The Diamond Stadium in Lake Elsinore, reacted to his early lead.
"It makes it easier to kind of take a bit of a breather," Lane said. "This has been a long campaign."
If re-elected, Lane said: "My passion has been the infrastructure ... and creating a business-friendly environment."
Lane spoke about building up the biotech industry in Murrieta, and sees potential based on demographics and open space.
"We have a lot of freeway frontage and a highly educated community. There's a lot of opportunity for job creation."
He also thanked his many campaign volunteers.
"I am very thankful to the volunteers. They worked very hard," Lane said.
Ramos, who was celebrating election night at Spelly's Pub and Grille in Murrieta, also reacted as promising early results began to emerge.
"I am pretty excited—hopeful," Ramos said. "I feel so blessed—first for this opportunity God has put in front of me, then the opportunity to represent the people of Murrieta."
Ramos thanked his biggest supporter—his wife—for her help while campaigning.
"This journey would not have been anywhere near complete without my wife with me. We ourselves put up every sign in the city, we've done all the legwork. We have knocked on the doors of our neighbors."
—Toni McAllister and Daniel Lane contributed to this report.
