13. Edward Mangano

When Mangano beat out the well-funded, two-term incumbent Tom Suozzi in December 2009 to claim his current spot as Nassau’s top-elected official, the seven-term Nassau County Republican legislator wasn’t just clinching its highest office, but assuming its greatest responsibilities and inheriting its toughest challenges. The county’s assessment system was long broken, hemorrhaging hundreds of millions of taxpayers’ dollars. Its sewage treatment system was on the brink of disaster. One-shots, defrayed costs and hefty borrowing had set the county’s finances on a collision course with a fiscal tsunami. Mangano knew what he was stepping into; his blue-collar roots inspired him to meet it all head-on. Sure, he’s taken some lumps over the past year—NIFA’s takeover didn’t make them any smoother—yet Mangano continues to battle, every single day, to get it all back on track for Nassau County residents. Doing so will require all the power he’s got.