A Republican, he served as a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for the 164th District (1980-2010) and Delaware County Council (2010-2017).

Prior to his election to the House, Civera served on the Upper Darby Board of Commissioners.

While serving on the Upper Darby Township Council, he was also chairman of the Public Safety Committee.

[5] However, controversy arose when Civera would not resign from his state House seat and thus is holding both offices.

During his county council campaign, Civera said he would step down from the House, but after the election said he had no plans to leave, saying he wanted to stay in Harrisburg to complete work on a table games bill needed to finalize the 2009 budget and tie up some other loose ends.