7. Richard Shaffer

By picking Steve Levy in the primaries, Suffolk’s cherubic Democratic Party chairman defied Newsday, whose editorial page editor threatened “war” if the party didn’t back the paper’s favorite. He went on to help Levy win the county executive post in the general election. Schaffer also convinced former Republican Huntington Supervisor Frank Petrone to join the party. With Petrone’s flip, Democrats now hold five town supervisor seats, equal to Republicans.