1. Thomas Suozzi

For his moxie alone, Suozzi has moved up to the pole position this year. His decision to seek the Democratic nod for governor has proven, once and for all, that Suozzi ignores the naysayers and does it his way. Facing down Attorney General Eliot Spitzer has been no easy task, and the battle has just begun. While it remains to be seen if Nassau County government will suffer at all without its leader at the helm during his “United State” tour across New York, chinks in the armor appeared at the very beginning of the year. The protracted battle for control of the Legislature raised a lot of eyebrows and concerns over Suozzi’s ability to keep order in his own house. His resounding re-election victory in November over no-show candidate Greg Peterson is a strong reflection of his approval among Nassau’s taxpayers, who are still hoping that Suozzi finds a way to pull them from property tax quicksand. To say Long Island would benefit from having a true suburban governor in Albany may be too ambitious, but Suozzi continues to try to convince us that Albany is a broken machine, and he has the tools to fix it.