9. Kathleen Rice

Nassau’s top-elected Democrat has hit her stride as she seeks a third term this fall, leaving no sacred cow un-slayed. Not shying away from Republicans who accuse her of partisan probes, her office continues to investigate apparent campaign fliers from Mangano’s office allegedly distributed by county workers on the taxpayers’ dime. She flipped the script when busting 104 alleged Johns who replied to Internet prostitution ads instead of just rounding up prostitutes, and she now refuses to use condoms as evidence against the sex workers in the hopes that they won’t shy away from using them. And, yes, she convicted the former second deputy Nassau police commissioner of covering up a burglary as a favor to his friend—proving she’ll not stand for corruption, even when it’s a member of law enforcement’s top brass. She’s come a long way from defining herself as simply the tough-on-drunken-driving prosecutor.