She returned to Adelaide some years later to work as a policy advisor to then Opposition Leader, Mike Rann.
[4] Portolesi decided to enter politics prior to the 2006 state election, and was nominated, unopposed, for preselection to the then highly marginal Liberal seat of Hartley.
Portolesi's status as an Italian-Australian broadened her support in the ethnically diverse community, and helped neutralise a factor that Scalzi had used to his advantage in the past.
The campaign in the seat was heavily presidential, with Premier Mike Rann strongly supporting Portolesi and doorknocking homes for her several times.
Three days later, it was announced that Portolesi would be appointed as a parliamentary secretary (assisting the Attorney-General) in the new government, the only one of the party's new recruits to gain such a position.
Portolesi has been a vocal supporter of paid maternity leave,[10] and established a select committee on work–life balance in her first year as the Member for Hartley.
She has shown support for same-sex unions and is a member of the pro-choice organisation for Australian women parliamentarians, Emily's List.