15. Denis Dillon

Not so long ago, it seemed that age and illness would drive this one-time Democrat to retire, but faster than you can say hip replacement surgery he is back on top in a race for a record ninth term. So secure is his position as the father figure of Nassau politics that his recent, very public rebuke of Republican Legislator Peter Schmitt did not even elicit the lightest knuckle-rap from local leaders of the GOP, which he joined in 1981. The party needs Dillon’s record and name recognition to anchor the ticket in November, and Dems may even concede his invulnerability by cross-endorsing.