Inluential Staffers Part 2

This is part 2 of the influential staffers list. Thanks, again to all the folks who sent in their suggestions.  It was far too difficult to narrow it down to just 5, so I have added a few more at the end of the top ten, as they deserve mention.

• 6. Joy O'Brien.  Joy is the Secretary of the Senate, a position she has held since Maine split with Massachusetts.  There are few people that have done more to keep the Senate Democrats in the majority, while running the day to day operations of the Senate. Joy is partisan, competent and has enough estrogen coursing though her veins to scare even the biggest egos in the building. Joy IS the Senate from the carpet (She picked it out) to the ceiling (she picked the paint color).  Rule number one in the State House: Don't F--- with Joy, you will lose.
• 7. Margaret Matheson, Revisor of Statutes.  Deep in the basement of the State House is a little corner of the building where work actually gets done.  Proof readers, lawyers, paralegals and an assortment of worker bees spend day after day drafting, amending and fixing the endless stream of paperwork that flows through state government.  That is the dominion of Ms. Matheson, who has been there since.... forever. Her influence is very different, in that she is the keeper of the gate - the person who makes sure that the non-partisan office does not "influence" anything.  She has taken on the partisans who would like to use that office for their own designs-and prevailed. For that, alone, she deserves to be on this list.
• 8. Jane Lincoln, Governor's Chief of Staff.  Like many of the folks on this list, Jane has been around for a long time, and knows where things are.  For Jane, the Chief of Staff job is actually a step down for her days as the Transportation Diva. For years, Jane made sure that whatever the Department of Transportation needed, the Department of Transportation got.   In her current role, she has a lot of competition - and egos, to contend with.  Regardless, she is a definite for the list as the Governor's gate keeper and close confidant.
  
• 9. Sue Gendron, Commissioner of Education.  If school consolidation is THE big issue, then Commissioner Gendron is at the center of it all. There is money, drama and lots of politics and Commissioner Gendron has managed to balance the enormous responsibility fairly well.  Her real power and influence comes from the language in the consolidation legislation that gives her substantial discretionary power over hundreds of school boards, thousands of students and most important -- millions of dollars.
• 10. Mary Small, Senate Republican Office Chief of Staff - Mary is a former Legislator from Bath who understands policy and loves politics. She provides a steady stream of solid advice to the caucus. Her intense loyalty and laser guided partisanship will play a key role in the 2008 electoral success for the Senate Republicans.

Honorable mention:

Jay Finnegan - Communications Director of the House Republican Office. Jay is a terrific writer, and manages to produce a ton of material that keeps Josh Tardy out in front issue after issue. Jay is a writer with real world experience, and can actually communicate a message.  It's tough to keep up with a guy like Rep. Josh Tardy, who would prefer to run for Governor rather than presiding over the daily grind of the House of Representatives.

Jesse Connolly, Chief of Staff House Democratic Office - Affable, amicable and understands the hand to hand combat of campaigns. Having Jesse on staff is a smart move in an era of term limits, as Jesse can keep the most important part of being a Legislator---getting reelected --- front and center