8. Kathleen Rice

Since she replaced Nassau’s legendary 31-year-incumbent District Attorney Denis Dillon in 2005, Kathleen Rice has been busy making the office her own and the voters have responded in kind. She was the only Democrat on the ticket last fall to win countywide. Now she wants to bid Nassau adieu and, if her ambition holds true, make a new home inside the Beltway as the replacement for the much-loved and admired Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-Mineola), who is retiring after serving nine terms. Rice doesn’t have a singular issue to her name the way McCarthy championed gun control, but she credits the Congresswoman with planting the idea that she run for McCarthy’s seat. She’s been tough on drunk drivers, drug dealers and Johns. And she’s been willing to stand tall and not bend to any political winds that may be blowing from her own party or the other one, which might put her in good stead if she finds herself ever needing Republican votes on Capitol Hill.