 After building a public relations firm in the Fresno area, Mike Villines was elected to his first political office in the California Assembly in 2004.He received 42.9% of the vote in a Republican primary contested by three candidates  and went on to easily defeat his Democratic opponent in the general election with 62.4% of the vote.Villines was chosen by his colleagues in November 2006 where he served as Republican leader for 2 years, making him one of the longest serving leaders over the past 25 years (due to terms limits).