32. Rich Schaffer

No Democrat wields power on Long Island more successfully than Suffolk’s own Machiavelli, Rich Schaffer. He doesn’t take challengers lightly, as the record will show. Under his leadership as Suffolk County Democratic chairman, his party has firmly cemented its hold on the majority at the county legislature. He once helped his protégé Steve Levy get elected to the county executive post, and then when their relationship soured—especially after Levy switched parties and became a Republican—Schaffer steered his preferred candidate, Steve Bellone, to victory. With Bellone as the new county executive, that meant he could no longer be Babylon Town supervisor. Schaffer, who’d served five terms as town supervisor, decided the best guy for the job was himself. Can we say what goes around comes around? Schaffer can be forgiven if he ever has flashbacks at work, because he first became supervisor on his 29th birthday—the youngest man to ever run the town. Now, much wiser and definitely a little grayer, he’s able to serve a place he obviously cares deeply about. And with that in mind, he can make sure that Wyandanch Rising continues to break ground, which should help revitalize that hard-hit community for the greater good of all Babylonians.