5. Tom Suozzi
2003 Power List
A 39-year-old Democrat newly elected in a heavily Republican county to clean up the fiscal mess left by his predecessors, Suozzi has a strong mandate but big problems to tackle too. LOVE HIM for the way he seems to be disciplining Nassau’s loose-cannon government. FEAR HIM for holding the reins so tightly that no other Nassau Democratic political officeholder has enough power to make this list.