Area GOP legislators rise to the top
By Chuck Doud
The Madera Tribune
State Sen. Dave Cogdill has been elected Senate Republican leader, and that puts Madera County in an unusual position: two of its four legislative representatives are minority leaders of their respective chambers. (Assemblyman Mike Villines is Republican leader of the California Assembly.)
Cogdill is a former Assembly member who is in his first term as a senator. Villines is in his second term as an Assembly member.
The Republicans in the Senate and Assembly obviously have a high opinion of the skills and character of both these citizen politicians, who do a good job of fostering the interests of their party, as well as the interests of their constituents.
Cogdill represents the 14th Senate District, which runs generally east of state Route 99 along the Sierras from Kingsburg up to Lodi. He has district offices in Fresno and Ripon, and has lived in Modesto since 1979. He is a former member of the Modesto City Council, and is a real estate appraiser.
Villines represents the 29th Assembly District, which encompasses the eastern portion of Fresno County and a pocket of southern Madera County, which includes the city of Madera. His home is in Clovis. His district office is in Fresno. He was an aide to Gov. Pete Wilson, and was chief of staff to former State Sen. Chuck Poochigian, whose senate district Cogdill now represents. Before being elected to the Assembly, he owned a small business in Clovis.
Both these leaders reflect the good judgment of Madera County voters.
