a long-time member of lega lombarda and lega nord (ln), he was mayor of induno olona from 1995 to 1999. fontana, with ln, was elected in the 2000 regional election and 2005 regional election to the regional council of lombardy, of which he functioned as president until july 2006. he stepped down from that office after being elected mayor of varese with 57.8% of the vote in the first round of 28 may 2006. he was re-elected in may 2011 with 53.8% of the vote in a run-off. fontana, ineligible to run for reelection due to term limits, left the office in june 2016. in 2007 fontana was the lawyer of andrea mascetti in the case against the left-wing journalist michele santoro from who they won.