The PA Power 100 2017

100. Marcel Groen

Chairman, Pennsylvania Democratic Party

A native of the Netherlands and a graduate of Temple Law School, Marcel Groen has been the chairman of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party since 2015. He spent 21 years as the chairman of the Montgomery County Democratic Committee while the county was making a gradual changeover from Republican stronghold to solidly Democratic territory. Groen has functioned as a delegate or superdelegate in every national election since 1992, and endorsed Tom Perez for Democratic National Committee chairman over U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison.

99. Jewell Williams

Philadelphia Sheriff

Jewell Williams spent 11 years as a Democrat serving in Pennsylvania’s statehouse before becoming sheriff of the city and county of Philadelphia in 2012. He oversees an agency with an annual budget of $15 million and 300 employees. Besides transporting inmates, the agency auctioned off more than 10,500 properties seized due to tax delinquency or foreclosure. His office collected $60 million in delinquent taxes through property sales last year, money that is enabling the Philadelphia School District to enact overdue capital improvements.

98. Pierre Brondeau

Chairman, President and CEO, FMC Corp.

The French-born Pierre Brondeau took over at FMC Corp., the Philadelphia-headquartered chemical manufacturer, in early 2010 and became chairman of the board later that year. The company moved into new digs last year, a reflective tower in Philadelphia’s University City that rises above its squat neighbors on 30th Street. Before joining FMC, Brondeau was no stranger to the chemical industry, boasting executive experience at both Dow Chemical Co. and Rohm and Haas Co.

97. Ken Smukler

President, Voterlink Data Systems

Ken Smukler has been a Democratic operative in Pennsylvania for years, working on campaigns for both U.S. Rep. Bob Brady and former U.S. Rep. Marjorie Margolies. He is the CEO of VoteCastr, a real-time election forecasting startup criticized for misjudging the outcome of the 2016 presidential election – a misstep he shared with almost every other pollster. Smukler often appears as a commentator on cable news and currently publishes the weekly Liberty City Press in Philadelphia.

96. Mona Ghude

Partner, Drinker Biddle

Mona Ghude, a partner with Drinker Biddle, serves as vice chairwoman of the the law firm’s employee benefits and executive compensation practice group. In that role, she is focused on advising public and private clients in a variety of industries on specialty issues, navigating the highly consequential and oftentimes complicated details of executive compensation.

95. Richard Englert

President, Temple University

Temple University named Richard Englert its new president in October after the highly publicized resignation of Neil Theobald and the dismissal of Provost Hai-Lung Dai in response to a $22 million shortfall last summer. Englert’s task is to steady the ship for an institution determined to continue its rapid rising in the rankings. The longtime administrator must also unite a behemoth university marked by seemingly endless debate over a prospective football stadium.

94. Helen Gym

Philadelphia City Councilwoman

Helen Gym has only been on the Philadelphia City Council for a little over a year, after filling Mayor Jim Kenney’s vacancy in January 2016, but her tenure has already been marked by her advocacy for Philadelphia public schools. The former schoolteacher and University of Pennsylvania graduate has brought a progressive vision to Philadelphia city politics and has been a high-profile supporter of a number of education and poverty issues in the city.

93. Keith Leaphart

Board Chairman, The Lenfest Foundation

A North Philadelphia native, Keith Leaphart’s influence now stretches to all parts of the city. He is a physician by trade, but currently serves as the president and CEO of Replica Creative, a design and print firm located in Center City that doubles as a coffee shop. He is also the protégé of billionaire media mogul and philanthropist H.F. “Gerry” Lenfest, after being taken under Lenfest’s wing many years ago. He has served as board chairman of The Lenfest Foundation since 2013.

92. Bruce Kraus

President, Pittsburgh City Council

Bruce Kraus was elected to the Pittsburgh City Council in 2008 and elevated by his peers to president in 2014. He is the city’s first openly gay elected official and has been at the forefront of promoting civil rights issues and legislation aimed at combating discrimination. His influence extends beyond municipal lawmaking as a member of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh board of trustees and the Carnegie Mellon University board of trustees, among others.

91. Brian Fitzpatrick

U.S. Representative

Brian Fitzpatrick is a new face in Washington, D.C., after winning his first election in November and replacing his older brother, Mike, who retired due to self-imposed term limits, as the Rep. for Pennsylvania’s 8th Congressional District, covering Bucks and part of Montgomery counties. The GOP lawmaker is a former FBI agent who focused on counterterrorism. He rode into Washington with a wave of other GOP newcomers and finds himself in friendly territory with the majority as he attempts to implement a conservative vision for his district.

90. D. Lee Carlson

President, PA Media Group

D. Lee Carlson has been president of PA Media Group, which owns The Patriot News, Harrisburg’s newspaper that publishes three times a week, and PennLive, a website covering Central Pennsylvania since 2014. The two publications share a newsroom. Previously, as interim president, Carlson oversaw the digital changeover. Now, she continues that role, keeping PennLive apace of the ever-changing journalistic landscape and keeping everyone interested in central Pennsylvania news informed in the process.

89. Art Rooney II

President, Pittsburgh Steelers

Following the death of Dan Rooney in April, Art Rooney II is the last of the five Rooney brothers to still retain a share of the Pittsburgh Steelers, the team their father, Art Sr., founded 84 years ago. The three other brothers have sold most of their pieces of the franchise pie since 2009, slowly ceding what used to be an 80 percent family majority interest in the team. The Rooney family has also been philanthropically involved in western Pennsylvania for decades.

88. David Feinberg

President and CEO, Geisinger Health System

As the president and CEO of Geisinger Health System since 2015, David Feinberg is in control of a health care system that provides care to some 3 million people across 12 campuses and two research facilities in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, employing 30,000 people. Since taking the reins, Feinberg has assumed leadership over the system that pioneered the ProvenCare model, which The New York Times called “surgery with a warranty,” receiving considerable national and international press for its innovation.

87. Ryan Costello

U.S. Representative

Making the jump from the Chester County Board of Commissioners to the big show in Washington, D.C., Ryan Costello was elected in 2014 to represent the 6th Congressional District, an area that covers West Chester, Phoenixville, Pottstown and Muhlenberg. Costello, a Republican, recently introduced legislation to expand assistance for caregivers of veterans and their families, as well as legislation introduced in conjunction with Democratic lawmakers intended to protect circus animals from cruelty.

86. Les Neri

President, Fraternal Order of Police Pennsylvania State Lodge

Les Neri is the top cop with Pennsylvania’s Fraternal Order of Police, serving as the organization’s president since 2008, a position from which he has a bullhorn to speak out on issues central to Pennsylvania’s law enforcement officers. He frequently testifies in Harrisburg, railing against bills that will affect the livelihoods of officers and endorsing those that would be a boon for them. In addition to his duties in Pennsylvania, he serves as the second vice president for the national FOP.

85. Jeff Jubelirer

Vice President, Bellevue Communications Group

A pillar of Philadelphia public relations, Jeff Jubelirer has been a go-to media analyst and panelist for years, frequently appearing on 6ABC’s “Inside Story.” In 2013, Jubelirer left his titular firm, Jubelirer Strategies, to join the team at Bellevue Communications Group as a vice president. Jubelirer has made issue and crisis management his trademark focus, teaching a course on the subject at Temple University as an adjunct professor. His clients include many of the state’s well-known businesses, executives and nonprofits.

84. Leslie Anne Miller

Board Chairwoman, Philadelphia Museum of Art

Leslie Anne Miller was selected to lead the landmark cultural destination in October, but the responsibilities of a board chairwoman are not alien to her. The attorney has been on the boards of both the Pennsylvania Ballet and the Free Library of Philadelphia. At the end of March, interior renovations began at the museum with a total cost of $196 million. And according to Miller, the museum has already raised $326 million of its stated goal of $500 million by 2020.

83. Keir Bradford-Grey

Chief Defender, Defender Association of Philadelphia

Since becoming chief of this chapter of public defenders in 2015, Keir Bradford-Grey has called for eliminating cash bail for those arrested on nonviolent charges, worked on developing a service to remind defendants of court dates and celebrated a $3.5 million grant from the MacArthur Foundation for programs to reduce the city’s prison population. Bradford-Grey, the first African- American woman to hold this post, has also served as a federal defender in Delaware and as Montgomery County’s chief defender.

82. Chris Gheysens

President and CEO, Wawa Inc.

Chris Gheysens has overseen the rapid expansion of everyone’s favorite hoagie and coffee stop not just into neighboring states below the Mason-Dixon line and Washington, D.C., but throughout Florida as well. He also spearheaded the revitalization of many legacy locations into super Wawas, which feature greatly expanded floorplans and gas. The opening of new storefronts in Center City Philadelphia that offer seating for patrons received predictably frenzied press coverage and gleeful reactions from many who work downtown.

81. William Demchak

Chairman, President and CEO, PNC Financial Services Group

William Demchak joined PNC in 2002 and was elected president of the company 10 years later (he was named company CEO the following year). Demchak started his career on Wall Street, but eventually made his way back to his hometown of Pittsburgh to join the financial services company at its headquarters. He’s among the 10 highest-paid CEOs in the banking industry, with a total annual compensation of $12 million.

80. Jeffrey Lurie

Owner, Philadelphia Eagles

Under outspoken billionaire Jeffrey Lurie’s ownership, the Philadelphia Eagles have made a number of moves in recent years fit to splash across newspaper front pages in large type – the hiring and firing of polarizing head coach Chip Kelly chief among them. With Doug Pederson as coach and Carson Wentz at quarterback, There’s a sense that Lurie has been increasingly active in team decisions, no doubt in response to fan unrest at decades of playoff futility for this billion-dollar franchise.

79. David Fillman

Executive Director, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 13

As the head of AFSCME Council 13, David Fillman represents over 65,000 state workers, more than any other public sector union in Pennsylvania. That formidable membership gives him considerable sway at the state level in pension reform and other labor issues. In September, the union voted for a new three-year contract that will incrementally raise the average member’s salary by $6,000 over the course of the contract. The membership and its activism during elections means he and AFSCME are highly sought after by politicians.

78. Valerie Arkoosh

Chairwoman, Montgomery County Board of Commissioners

Valerie Arkoosh, the former Drexel University and University of Pennsylvania anesthesiologist, took over as chairwoman of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners last fall when Josh Shapiro left to become state attorney general, putting her in charge of a $400 million budget and making her the first woman to head the board. Tapping into her medical background, Arkoosh has made tackling the opioid crisis a top priority, signing a standing order to make Naloxone emergency kits available at pharmacies.

77. Patrick Gallagher

Chancellor, University of Pittsburgh

In 2014, Patrick Gallagher was elected as the 18th chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh, the thirdlargest university in the state, putting the former bureaucrat in charge of an almost $2 billion budget and five campuses. Previously, Gallagher served as the director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology under President Barack Obama. Gallagher now heads the university where he earned a doctorate in physics.

76. Richard Hayne

CEO, Urban Outfitters

In 1970, Richard Hayne opened Urban Outfitters with a graduate school buddy in University City and the youth apparel company has since expanded to more than 200 locations across the U.S., Canada and Europe, making Hayne a billionaire and giving the brand name national recognition. The company is still located in Philadelphia; Hayne took the reins as CEO in 2012 and now oversees multiple brands under the URBN portfolio, which includes the critically acclaimed Vetri Family restaurants.

75. Joseph Coradino

Chairman and CEO Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust

At the helm of the Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust, Joseph Coradino has been overseeing the acquisition and rebranding of the Gallery at Market East into the Fashion Outlets of Philadelphia, a $325 million project still largely under wraps. Given the old gallery has sat as an unused husk on Market Street, the development has generated predictable press coverage for PREIT, which is one of the largest companies of its kind, with some 23 million square feet of property, and one of the first REITs to be publicly traded.

74. Richard Bloomingdale

President, Pennsylvania AFL-CIO

A longtime labor activist, Richard Bloomingdale has been president of the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO since 2010, overseeing some 900,000 union members statewide. With recent Republican-led pushes to make Pennsylvania a right-to-work state – a change that would be potentially ruinous for union membership – Bloomingdale has been a vocal opponent of the legislation, a role that will only gain significance as the heavily conservative state Legislature seeks new ways to dismantle labor’s bargaining and political strength.

73. Kristen Rotz

President, United Way of Pennsylvania

Kristen Rotz brings plenty of experience in health and human services to her role as president of the United Way of Pennsylvania, a position she’s held since 2014. For Rotz, leading Pennsylvania’s centralized United Way has meant advocating in Harrisburg on behalf of the local community chapters across the commonwealth, hoping to craft policies that are favorable to the charitable work they do in education, health and strengthening communities.

72. Tom Herman

President, Service Employees International Union Local 668

As president of Service Employees International Union Local 668 – one of the largest public sector unions in Pennsylvania, representing some 11,000 state workers – Tom Herman was at the forefront of efforts to prevent 300 of its members from being laid off at state unemployment call centers during last year’s funding stalemate. The longtime Democratic operative will be a critical player going forward as Wagner prepares to run for governor and continues to pick fights with public sector unions.

71. Joe Torsella

State Treasurer

Joe Torsella took office as the newly elected state treasurer in January, putting him square in the center of Pennsylvania’s almost yearly budget crisis. Torsella oversaw the concept and construction of the National Constitution Center as founding president and CEO from 1997-2003 and then again from 2006-09. He also brings to Pennsylvania’s fiscal dealings his background as a U.N. representative from 2011-14, when he functioned as a financial watchdog for the federal government.

70. Keith Rothfus

U.S. Representative

U.S. Rep. Keith Rothfus has served Pennsylvania’s 12th District, which stretches from Beaver to Somerset counties, since 2013. The Republican lawmaker is a former member of the Freedom Caucus, a group of the House GOP’s most conservative members. While still aligned with the group ideologically, Rothfus left it to focus on policy work, he said. He remains a member of the Republican Study Committee, which is made up of conservative members who focus on support for taxpayers’ rights and Second Amendment rights.

69. Eric Barron

President, Penn State University

In February, Eric Barron announced that Penn State would use revenue from its new Big 10 media rights contract to fund non-sports-related campus initiatives. It’s another concrete step toward moving the school forward from the devastating effects of the long-running Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal. Barron, who was a Penn State dean and faculty member for 10 years, took office in May 2014. He previously served as president of Florida State University.

68. Scott Perry

U.S. Representative

Republican U.S. Rep. Scott Perry has represented Pennsylvania’s 4th District, which includes York and Cumberland counties, since 2013. He is a decorated Iraq War veteran and a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus. He has been a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump, although he did not support the original efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Perry serves on several committees, including the House Foreign Affairs and Homeland Security committees. Perry was a member of the state House from 2007-13.

67. David Spigelmyer

President, Marcellus Shale Coalition

David Spigelmyer leads Appalachia’s largest shale development trade organization and one of the state’s most influential lobbying groups. In 2015, the organization spent $3.8 million to promote its issues, according to The Patriot- News. Spigelmyer advocates for more pipelines and more power generation facilities, which puts him in agreement with President Donald Trump, who also wants to expand the nation’s shale oil and gas industries. Spigelmyer said he is optimistic the president will move pipeline construction projects forward.

66. Eric Foss

Chairman, President and CEO Aramark Corp.

Eric Foss has been president and CEO of global foodservice giant Aramark since 2012. He was also elected as chairman of Aramark’s board of directors in 2015. Aramark, a Fortune 500 company, has 270,000 employees and is the food service provider for more than 500 colleges and universities, a slew of sports stadiums and hundreds of detention facilities. The company has gradually increased its spending on lobbyists since 1998, tallying $570,000 in expenditures in 2016.

65. Nilda Iris Ruiz

President and CEO, Asociación Puertorriqueños en Marcha

Nilda Iris Ruiz is president and CEO of Philadelphia- based Asociación Puertorriqueños en Marcha, a nationally recognized Hispanic-focused health, human services and community development organization. Ruiz manages a $20 million budget, more than $25 million in real estate development projects and a staff of 140, impacting the lives of more than 40,000 people a year. Before joining APM in 2005, Ruiz had a leadership role with National Council of La Raza, the nation’s largest Latino nonprofit advocacy organization.

64. Matthew Cartwright

U.S. Representative

Matthew Cartwright has represented the 17th Congressional District, which includes Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, since 2013. The moderate Democrat supports good government practices involving transparency and efficiency; increasing taxes on the wealthy; and legislation that will address global warming. He sits on the powerful House Appropriations Committee. Cartwright opposed President Donald Trump administration’s attempts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act with the American Health Care Act.

63. Lloyd Smucker

U.S. Representative

Lloyd Smucker spent 2008-16 representing Lancaster as a state senator in Harrisburg. Now, after his November victory, the freshman Republican congressman is on Capitol Hill representing Pennsylvania’s 16th District, which covers much of Lancaster and Chester counties, as well as a piece of Berks County. The staunchly conservative lawmaker introduced his first bill in April that would remove the penalty for seniors who fail to immediately register for Medicare when they are eligible.

62. Pat Meehan

U.S. Representative

As congressman of the gerrymandered 7th District since 2011, Pat Meehan is a member of the Republican Main Street Partnership, a coalition of centrists and moderate conservatives. He serves an area that includes Upper Darby and the suburbs west of Philadelphia as well as Pottstown, but not many of the towns in between. He serves on the influential House Ways and Means Committee and the House Ethics Committee, and has broken with GOP leaders on climate change votes.

61. Larry Ceisler

Principal, Ceisler Media & Issue Advocacy

Larry Ceisler is a nationally recognized communications guru and an expert on the Electoral College and government. He cofounded his Philadelphia-based media advocacy firm, Ceisler Media & Issue Advocacy, in 2003. It now has a client list that includes Comcast, American Airlines, Wal-Mart and the nation of Israel. Ceisler is one of the dominant political operatives in the city, but he works hard to remain under the radar. He initially declined recognition on this list, but we included him anyway.

60. Patricia Mackavage

Harrisburg Executive Director, Duane Morris Government Strategies LLC

Patricia Mackavage is very familiar with how state government operates. She served as a legislative aide to three governors and worked as a lobbyist before taking her current job. Her department has a diverse client list that includes municipalities, nonprofits, large manufacturers, technology companies and social services organizations. Mackavage manages the office’s day-to-day operations and represents clients’ issues before the state Legislature and local governments in Pennsylvania.

59. Constance Williams

Hess Foundation

Even though Constance Williams is officially retired from politics after serving four years in the Pennsylvania State House and seven years in the state Senate, she’s definitely still involved. As one of the state’s most influential Democrats, her endorsement matters – as do her many monetary contributions to Democratic causes. She is one of the heirs to the Hess fortune and is involved with the Hess Foundation, which controls millions of dollars in assets.

58. Gerard Sweeney

President, CEO and Trustee Brandywine Realty Trust

Gerard Sweeney oversees one of the largest publicly traded integrated real estate companies in the U.S. Under his leadership, the company has grown from four properties with a total market capitalization of less than $5 million to 28 million square feet and a total market capitalization of about $5 billion. As chairman of the board of the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority, he’s also involved in decisions that affect trade on the Delaware River, development along the Schuylkill River, Philadelphia tourism and quality of life downtown.

57. Lou Barletta

U.S. Representative

During his decadelong stint as mayor of Hazleton, Lou Barletta gained a national profile due to his outspoken opposition to undocumented immigrants. Since being elected as a congressman representing the 11th District, made up of Columbia, Montour, and Wyoming counties and parts of four other counties, Barletta has expanded upon his anti-immigrant beliefs. He was an early supporter of President Donald Trump and has backed his two executive orders banning immigration from several Muslim-majority countries.

56. Martina White

State Representative

At 28, Republican state Rep. Martina White is the youngest female member of the House. She won an open election in a Northeast Philadelphia district where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by a 2-to-1 margin. She’s not afraid to spar with entrenched city leaders, sponsoring a bill that would deny state funding to so-called “sanctuary cities” like Philadelphia and supporting legislation that would make it more difficult for officials to release the names of police officers involved in shootings.

55. Brendan Boyle

U.S. Representative

After a successful six-year stint in the state House, Democrat Brendan Boyle moved to Washington, D.C. in 2015 to represent the 13th Congressional District, which includes Montgomery County and Northeast Philadelphia. In Harrisburg, Boyle focused on education and economic equity issues while also co-founding the LGBT Equality Caucus. In Washington, he co-chairs the Congressional Blue Collar Caucus, which seeks to re-establish Democrats as the representatives of the working class.

54. Stephen K. Klasko

President and CEO, Jefferson Health

Dr. Stephen K. Klasko, president and CEO of Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Health, is often described as a visionary. Under his leadership, the Philadelphia-based Jefferson has grown from a three-hospital academic medical center into a major regional health services provider with eight hospitals, the largest telehealth network in the region and the state-of-the-art Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center. Klasko said he views Jefferson as a learning lab, expanding the medical school experience to include business know-how.

53. Gabriel Escobar

Editor and Vice President, Philadelphia Media Network

Gabriel Escobar oversees the state’s largest news organization, which includes the Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News and philly.com. Escobar joined the Inquirer’s management team in 2007 after reporting and editing stints at The Washington Post, Philadelphia Daily News and Hartford Courant. Escobar has been one of the architects of the company’s online news strategy as it seeks to become a digital-first organization after Gerry Lenfest donated the organization to a newly created nonprofit media institute.

52. Gary W. Babin

Vice President, S.R. Wojdak & Associates

Gary W. Babin is a vice president at S.R. Wojdak & Associates, one of the state’s most influential and effective government relations firms. He’s represented clients on a variety of issues, including taxation, law enforcement, retail and corrections. He has a background in business, which includes serving as vice president of regulatory and governmental affairs for Columbia Gas of Ohio. He also learned the ropes of governing as executive director of the state Senate Labor and Industry and State Government Affairs committees.

51. Jeffrey Romoff

President and CEO, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center

Jeffrey Romoff has served as the leader of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, one of the country’s largest nonprofit health systems since 1992. The $14 billion global health enterprise has 65,000 employees, making it the commonwealth’s largest employer outside of the government itself. Last year, Romoff announced UPMC would raise the minimum starting wages for most of its jobs to $15 an hour by 2021. Romoff received $7 million in compensation last year.

50. Mike Kelly

U.S. Representative

U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly has represented the state’s 3rd Congressional District, an area north of Pittsburgh including Erie, Clarion and Mercer counties, since 2011. The Republican businessman – he owns car dealerships in his hometown of Butler – serves on the influential House Ways and Means Committee. The outspoken Republican was a frequent critic of President Barack Obama. He supports President Donald Trump and his efforts to run government more like a private business.

49. Sister Mary Scullion

President and Executive Director, Project HOME

Sister Mary Scullion’s work as an advocate for the homeless has earned her a national profile and praise from the likes of President Bill Clinton. She began her outreach efforts in the mid-1970s, years before she co-founded Project HOME, which has since become one of the country’s most successful homeless aid organizations. In 2009, Time magazine included Scullion on its list of 100 people “who most affect our world.” Former Gov. Ed Rendell once called the relentless Scullion “Philadelphia’s Joan of Arc.”

48. Mark Alderman

Chairman, Cozen O’Connor Public Strategies

As the head of one of the country’s most prominent lobbying groups, Mark Alderman can offer plenty of expertise in government relations. He has been on President Barack Obama’s transition team and was the Pennsylvania chairman for the Democratic National Committee’s National Finance Committee. He has a knack for being in close proximity to the levers of power. He also frequently offers his analysis as a commentator for a number of national cable news outlets.

47. Debra McCloskey Todd

Justice, Pennsylvania Supreme Court

Since joining the Pennsylvania Supreme Court as the first Democratic woman elected to the court in its 295-year history, Justice Debra McCloskey Todd has advocated for gender, racial and ethnic equality. As two of her fellow justices gave up their seats in the pornographic email scandal, Todd urged for further scrutiny of every judge and lawyer involved. Todd, who is running unopposed in a retention election this fall, is in line to become the state’s first female chief justice.

46. Bob Asher

National Committeeman, Republican Party of Pennsylvania

Bob Asher is the ultimate Republican fundraiser. In 2010, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported that Asher had raised about $3 million for then- Gov. Tom Corbett and $2 million for other state GOP candidates. On the scene for more than 30 years, he has close ties to Corbett, whose campaign he chaired, and former Gov. Tom Ridge, who appointed Asher as the state’s committeeman on the Republican National Committee in 1998.

45. Mike Long

Co-founder, Long, Nyquist & Associates

Both Mike Long and Todd Nyquist worked in the state Senate before creating Long, Nyquist & Associates in 2009. Today they have one of the state’s most prominent and powerful lobbying firms with big-name clients, including Shell Oil, Comcast and Independence Blue Cross. Long boasts that the firm’s support of GOP candidates has flipped numerous statehouse seats for the GOP. He’s regarded as one of the state’s top political operatives, with some critics calling him the 51st senator.

44. Val DiGiorgio

Chairman, Republican Party of Pennsylvania

For the first time in 28 years, Pennsylvania voted for the Republican presidential candidate last fall. Now, state GOP chairman Val DiGiorgio will try to use that momentum to increase Republican influence, especially in the Philadelphia area. He might start in Chester County – where he lives – and where Hillary Clinton bested Donald Trump by more than 250,000 votes. DiGiorgio, an attorney with Stradley, Ronon, Stevens & Young, has said Trump’s financial policies will appeal to affluent Democratic voters.

43. William Sasso

Chairman, Stradley Ronon

William Sasso has been chairman of the Philadelphia-based law firm Stradley, Ronon, Stevens & Young since 1994, overseeing more than 200 lawyers in eight offices. He’s served as a commissioner of the Delaware River Port Authority and on the boards of directors of the Free Library of Philadelphia and the United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey. It’s also not unusual for a sitting governor to ask for his opinions, as Gov. Tom Wolf and former Gov. Tom Corbett have done.

42. Scott Wagner

State Senator and Gubernatorial Candidate

Republican state Sen. Scott Wagner, the tenacious York County native, is already gearing up for a gubernatorial run in 2018. He’ll most likely have the support of natural gas advocates, who agree with his stances that there are redundant restrictions on the oil and gas industry and drilling on state lands should be allowed. But don’t pigeonhole Wagner: He supported discrimination protections for LGBTQ individuals, raising the state’s minimum wage and is co-sponsoring “clean slate” legislation for nonviolent offenders.

41. Leslie Richards

Secretary, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation

Leslie Richards approaches her work as the state’s transportation secretary with an eye towards sustainability, conservation and the environmental impact of potential projects. And there are a lot of projects that cost a lot of money: Richards oversees an $8 billion budget. Recently, she initiated a project that will, in part, fund a 12-year program to address failing bridges and roads and the department released an outline for biking enhancements along 150 miles of two state routes.

40. Glenn Thompson

U.S. Representative

Republican U.S. Rep. Glenn Thompson has represented the north-central 5th Congressional District since 2009. Thompson is also a consummate fundraiser, with donations coming from industries he supports, such as natural gas, manufacturing and health care. Thompson serves on three House committees: Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Education and Workforce. He was critical of Donald Trump early in the 2016 presidential campaign, but became a vocal supporter after Trump won the Pennsylvania primary.

39. Marian Tasco

Former Philadelphia City Councilwoman

Marian Tasco officially ended her 32-year political career when she resigned from Philadelphia City Council in 2015. But her influence remains. She’s a leader of the Northwest Coalition, a group of African-American leaders who can deliver votes. Where Tasco goes, others follow: She was one of the few black political leaders to endorse Mayor Jim Kenney during his 2015 mayoral campaign. The move helped Kenney in African-American neighborhoods and two Tasco proteges, both black, garner votes in white wards.

38. John Fry

President, Drexel University

Drexel University President John Fry has been in higher education his entire professional life. Under his leadership, Drexel successfully completed a $400 million capital campaign ahead of schedule, raised the college’s national profile and improved its student to faculty ratio. He’s also become an unofficial city planner: Fry’s partnership with Brandywine Realty Trust will convert parking lots and industrial buildings near Drexel into a mixeduse development with residential high-rises, businesses and parks at a cost of $3.5 billion.

37. Stephen A. Cozen

Founder and Chairman, Cozen O’Connor

Stephen A. Cozen’s influence extends beyond Philadelphia-based law firm Cozen O’Connor, which he founded and leads as chairman. He is part-owner of Sugar- House Casino, has enjoyed long relationships with power players like former Gov. Ed Rendell and has money to spend on issues that matter to him. He also serves on the board of the National Museum of American Jewish History and is an emeritus member of the University of Pennsylvania Law School’s board of overseers.

36. Daniel Hilferty

President and CEO, Independence Blue Cross

Here’s one way to measure the influence of Independence Blue Cross President and CEO Dan Hilferty: His company was the only health care insurer to offer plans in Southeastern Pennsylvania this year. Hilferty gave health care advice to former President Barack Obama and sat next to President Donald Trump at a meeting about the Affordable Care Act. Hilferty is board chairman of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and he sits on the executive committee of America’s Health Insurance Plans, a trade association.

35. Cynthia Shapira

Board of Governors Chairwoman, Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education

Cynthia Shapira is a philanthropist as well as civic and community leader in Allegheny County. She and her husband, Giant Eagle chairman David Shapira, lead a foundation focused on Jewish causes. In 2015, she hosted a small fundraiser at her home for Hillary Clinton with the candidate in attendance. A few years earlier, she’d done the same with Michelle Obama. Last year, Gov. Tom Wolf appointed Shapira to lead the governing board of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education.

34. Charlie Dent

U.S. Representative

U.S. Rep. Charlie Dent has represented the 15th Congressional District, which includes Allentown, since 2005. He sits on the House Appropriations Committee where he worked to secure $20 million for a Fort Indiantown Gap project. He is co-chairman of the Tuesday Group, a coalition of about 50 moderate Republicans. A vocal critic of candidate Donald Trump, Dent has repeatedly said both parties must work together to tackle the nation’s problems.

33. Subra Suresh

President, Carnegie Mellon University

Subra Suresh become president of Carnegie Mellon University in 2013, where he has advocated for diversity in higher education and helped the school bring in more than $100 million in donations. After President Donald Trump signed an executive order barring travel from several Muslimmajority countries, Suresh restated the university’s commitment to all students. He also shared his own immigration story: Suresh was 21 when he borrowed money for a one-way ticket to the U.S.

32. Madeline Bell

President and CEO, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

Madeline Bell joined the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia as a nurse in the 1980s, returned as an administrator in the 1990s and is now president and CEO of the sprawling health system. Bell has played a crucial role in the hospital’s physical and economic growth. She serves as chairwoman of the Economic and Community Advisory Council for the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. She is also on the boards of Comcast and the University of Pennsylvania’s Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics.

31. Gerry Lenfest

Founder, The Lenfest Foundation

Philanthropist H.F. “Gerry” Lenfest and his wife Marguerite have donated more than $1 billion – and aim to give away a lot more during their lifetime. Lenfest has been called the founding father of contemporary Philadelphia, granting millions to support education and the arts. He’s thus far given more than $2 million to political campaigns since 2000, usually to Democrats. He is also the driving force behind donating the Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News to the nonprofit Institute for Journalism in New Media.

30. Darrell Clarke

President, Philadelphia City Council

Philadelphia City Council President Darrell Clarke is arguably the most powerful elected official in the city. While Mayor Jim Kenney holds the top job, Clarke’s influence on the council cannot be underestimated. A 2014 editorial in the Philadelphia Inquirer described Clarke’s influence this way: “Rarely does any other Council member utter a peep in opposition to their president’s desires.” Clarke was elected to council in 1999, representing North Philadelphia. He was first elected council president in 2012 and was re-elected in 2016.

29. Eugene DePasquale

State Auditor General

It’s a measure of how public perception of the state auditor general has changed that when any kind of fiscal controversy arises, one of the first corrective measures is an investigation by Eugene DePasquale’s office. DePasquale has trained his metrics on poor performance, including a brutal assessment of the Department of Human Services’ child abuse hotline. High-visibility successes, combined with forays into policy issues like the legalization of marijuana, have led to speculation that he could soon move on to a higher office.

28. Tom Marino

U.S. Representative

The four-term GOP Congressman representing the state’s 10th District read the political tea leaves better than the vast majority of his colleagues. Tom Marino was one of the earliest and most vocal elected officials to support Donald Trump. Rumor had it that Trump was so grateful that Marino was in line to become the national drug czar. While that didn’t transpire, his loyalty to the president and his position on three key House committees should ensure his influence.

27. Tim Murphy

U.S. Representative

As the only licensed psychologist in the U.S. House of Representatives, Tim Murphy, who is serving his eighth term, is seen by many as the chamber’s strongest mental health advocate, as shown by his involvement in amendments to the American Health Care Act as a member of the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee. Murphy, who represents southwestern Pennsylvania in the 18th District, is also known for reaching across the aisle: He was recently ranked as the 49th-most bipartisan House member.

26. Michele Buck

President and CEO, Hershey Co.

Newly minted Hershey President and CEO Michele Buck – she took over the reins in March – instantly became one of the state’s most important people. She must now navigate a multibillion-dollar corporation, thousands of employees, the trust that owns 80 percent of the company and the Milton Hershey School for impoverished children. An uncertain landscape of impending overseas layoffs and a move to become a player in the burgeoning U.S. snack market will be some of her upcoming challenges.

25. Dwight Evans

U.S. Representative

In the annals of Pennsylvania politics, there haven’t been a lot of comeback stories like this one. The longtime former state Rep. Dwight Evans had been counted out by Harrisburg circles after losing a distinguished post atop the powerful state House Appropriations committee in 2010. What a difference an indictment can make. As former U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah went down on federal corruption charges, Evans scored a decisive win in a district that spans Philadelphia and its wealthy suburbs.

24. Jake Corman

State Senate Majority Leader

A Republican who has served his Central Pennsylvania Senate district since following in his father’s footsteps nearly 20 years ago, Jake Corman has risen to become one of the most powerful politicians in Harrisburg. As state Senate majority leader, he recently helped promote even-keeled budget solutions, hewing away from a panacea of vice taxes, while also resisting unrealistic cuts. A top contender for governor, Corman has said he’s content to hold onto party leadership in the state Senate, for now.

23. Bill Shuster

U.S. Representative

The state’s most senior Republican Congressman, Bill Shuster followed his father into Pennsylvania’s 9th Congressional District, which encompasses 12 counties. A strong conservative, Shuster has long been opposed to abortion, tax increases and undocumented immigration. Despite a brush with a lobbying scandal, Shuster has kept the chairmanship of the powerful House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and a slot on the House Armed Services Committee.

22. Stan Saylor

State Representative

Southeastern Pennsylvania once boasted native sons for governor, state Senate president and House Speaker. No more. Power has decisively shifted to the middle of the state, with York native Stan Saylor at the helm of the powerful state House Appropriations Committee. Still a fairly under-the-radar power player, the Republican has recently laid out an agenda of promoting charter school reform, cutting taxes and ending corporate welfare. With control over many of the state’s purse strings, he may get what he wants.

21. Bill Peduto

Pittsburgh Mayor

A progressive heartthrob who has made urbanism and affordable housing central to his administration, Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto has distinguished himself – besides a stint on reality show “Undercover Boss” – by embracing the city’s future via the tech sector in a region historically known for steel. A former city councilman and a popular mayor, Peduto is poised to easily secure a second term leading the state’s second-largest city.

20. Meryl Levitz

President and CEO, Visit Philadelphia

As president and CEO of Visit Philadelphia, Meryl Levitz has long been a major player in the city’s emergence as one of the nation’s top tourist destinations. Today Philadelphia has 10 million more leisure visitors than it did in 1997, when her organization was founded, generating billions of dollars in economic impact and tens of thousands of jobs. Levitz serves on the Philadelphia International Airport Advisory Board, the Mayor’s Cultural Advisory Council and the Governor’s Pennsylvania Travel and Tourism Partnership.

19. Rich Fitzgerald

Allegheny County Executive

After Rich Fitzgerald’s election victory in 2012, the Allegheny County Executive quickly moved to consolidate power, establishing a well-oiled political machine with few public opponents. Many credit Fitzgerald with helping to elect Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto in 2014, along with other progressive candidates. Robust fundraising has kept Fitzgerald virtually unchallenged in the arena of Pittsburgh politics, as he has worked to bring onetime opponents into the fold.

18. Tracey McCants Lewis

Board of Directors President, American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania

During Tracey McCants Lewis’ time on the board of the ACLU of Pennsylvania, the local chapter has set new records for membership and donations – helped in no small part by dubiously legal executive orders emanating from the Trump administration. Now president of the board, she has been one of the state’s most prominent advocates for advancing civil rights by using the court system to litigate against police brutality and other systemic problems.

17. Maggie Hardy Magerko

Owner and President, 84 Lumber Co.

The scion and CEO of the $2.8 billion company 84 Lumber, Maggie Hardy Magerko is one of the wealthiest women in the state and arguably the most publicly influential. She helps oversee a family fortune that she has used to support conservative candidates, like Lynn Swann, or eye-catching philanthropic projects. Although an avowed supporter of Donald Trump, her company made waves by running a Super Bowl ad highlighting the struggles of migrants.

16. Mike Doyle

U.S. Representative

U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle has championed the Pittsburgh area for more than 20 years and is Pennsylvania’s most senior member of Congress. The former steel mill worker has taken iconoclastic positions in Washington, fighting against gun control, defending the Affordable Care Act and supporting net neutrality from his perch on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. A popular Democrat in a safe district, Doyle has no serious political challengers in sight.

15. Dave Reed

State House Majority Leader

It’s telling that the Republican House Majority Leader could trigger speculation about his political ambitions (Governor? Senate?) simply by launching a website that looked like it was produced by a campaign. Featuring suggestive shots of his family in their Sunday best, all the site was missing was an actual campaign. Dave Reed has served Western Pennsylvania since 2003 as part of a wave of GOP candidates that swept through previously blue districts, and has since broadened his power base.

14. David L. Cohen

Senior Executive Vice President, Comcast Corp.

David Cohen, the wonkish mastermind behind former Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell’s City Hall administration, who is now a Comcast executive and national Democratic megadonor, has never stopped moving. While hosting sitting presidents at his Chestnut Hill residence, he has extended the telecom giant’s reach across the country, scoring legislative victories in Washington, D.C. Comcast remains the top corporation in Philadelphia, unafraid to tangle with Cohen’s successors in City Hall over the city’s business climate.

13. Jim Kenney

Philadelphia Mayor

Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney has won plaudits for his deft handling of an effort to enact precedent-setting soda tax to fund key initiatives. Despite recent tensions in the Legislature, a brush with a federal investigation into his political backers and a lawsuit over the soda tax, Kenney wields tremendous influence over a city that is seeing growth in population and tax revenues. His sights are set on expanding subsidized pre-K and executing a half-billion dollar project to overhaul city-owned buildings.

12. Josh Shapiro

State Attorney General

A former state legislator and later Montgomery County commissioner, Josh Shapiro swooped into the attorney general’s office despite the baggage of Kathleen Kane’s indictment and an election that battered the Democratic Party. He instituted new ethics training in the troubled office while earning media attention for moderate pushback on Trump’s proposed travel ban and moves to address the opioid crisis. With his much-discussed aspirations for the governor’s office, Shapiro’s star has only continued to rise.

11. Mike Turzai

State House Speaker

The House speaker is top dog in Harrisburg’s sometimes chaotic lower chamber, with many aspirational bills living or dying on his support alone. Mike Turzai can be hard to pin down politically, having championed conservative causes like liquor privatization and charter school expansion while almost singlehandedly chilling a far-right crusade to abolish most property taxes in Pennsylvania. Speculation is rampant his next move will be a bid for the governor’s mansion.

10. Bob Brady

U.S. Representative

Bob Brady, who has run the Philadelphia Democratic City Committee since 1986, is as old school as they come. In fact, the 11-term congressman representing Pennsylvania’s 1st District still carries his union cards for the Metropolitan Regional Council of Carpenters and the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers and is a longtime labor ally.

In addition to flexing his power through the DCC, Brady wields considerable influence through his position as ranking member of the Committee on House Administration, which deals with the general administration of the legislative body. He is also a member of the House Committee on Armed Services.

One measure of Brady’s staying power is his Teflon status. Despite a number of body blows – some self-inflicted – delivered to Pennsylvania Democrats, Brady is still standing. Among the more notable misfires: failing to deliver a win in the state for the Democratic nominee for president for the first time since 1988, high-profile losses and dysfunction by the party in this month’s Philadelphia primary and a mind-boggling number of politicians accused or convicted of corruption.

Despite the recent bad news (and there’s a contrarian view that he is even more deeply entrenched because the party needs someone who has weathered previous storms), Brady is still the commonwealth’s senior congressman and the head of the DCC – and, judging by appearances, he will continue to hold those positions for as long as he wants.

9. Janet Haas

Board of Directors Chairwoman, William Penn Foundation

Janet Haas may not be a household name in Philadelphia, but anyone using a library, trail, playground, public park or rec center in the city in coming years should know that the media-shy board chair of the William Penn Foundation is one of the people most responsible for the city’s game-changing $500 million Rebuild program. How responsible? The William Penn Foundation is providing $100 million of that estimate to the city for rehabbing and upgrading dilapidated public places and spaces.

For Haas, a psychiatrist who is a palliative care specialist at the University of Pennsylvania Health System’s Abramson Cancer Center, the landmark grant is just the latest example of her commitment to improving quality of life in Pennsylvania. During her two decades at the helm, she has focused on watershed protection and early childhood learning as two major recipients of the estimated $100 million in annual grants awarded by the charitable foundation, which has a $2.3 billion endowment thanks to contributions from Haas family members since its creation in 1945 by Rohm & Haas founder Otto Haas and his wife, Phoebe.

The combination of the foundation’s long history as a Philadelphia nonprofit stalwart, its endowment and the sheer number of annual grants – in the neighborhood of 250 per year – and the decampment of the Pew Charitable Trusts to Washington, D.C. – means that Haas and the William Penn Foundation can be seen, as one nonprofit industry publication put it, as “the 800-pound gorilla of philanthropy in Philadelphia.”

8. Amy Gutmann

President, University of Pennsylvania

When you’re the president of a nonprofit organization with annual income greater than the next 10 largest nonprofits in Pennsylvania combined, you’ve got to be doing something right. That’s certainly the case with University of Pennsylvania President Amy Gutmann, whose stewardship of the Ivy League university, including its numerous academic institutions, medical system and an ever-increasing infrastructure that has reached the Schuylkill River, led university trustees in November to award her yet another contract extension. She will remain one of the highest-paid college presidents in the country – and the university’s longest-serving president in its 277-year history.

Consider it an investment on their part. Since coming to Penn from Princeton in 2004, Gutmann has overseen an exponential increase in the size of Penn’s endowment, from roughly $4 billion to almost $11 billion. That’s in addition to presiding over the university’s expanding footprint through its destination status as one of the best universities in the country, its massive economic impact on Philadelphia and the commonwealth – it is by far the largest nongovernmental employer in the city – and its continued physical expansion through new buildings and repurposing old ones like a former Dupont facility into a massive incubator workspace featuring offices, labs, and production space called Pennovation Works.

One possible conflict on the horizon is Gutmann’s emphatic stance that Penn is a sanctuary campus – a position that runs afoul of the America First agenda of the only Penn alum to become president: Donald Trump.

7. John Dougherty

Business Manager, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local Union 98

Even a long-running federal investigation into the political spending of Philadelphia’s electricians union can’t wholly negate the influence of its chief, John Dougherty, known to friends and haters as “Johnny Doc.” The union’s political spending is still virtually unmatched, despite Dougherty’s claims that he is getting out of politics. Among recent evidence to the contrary: He helped Mayor Jim Kenney win office in Philadelphia, his allies control much of City Council and his own brother sits on the state Supreme Court.

Even when he doesn’t get his way, Dougherty is able to upend political races. Dougherty meddled in last year’s Democratic attorney general primary, giving Josh Shapiro serious agita as many in Philadelphia turned to cross-state district attorney Stephen Zappala, reportedly to pay back a political favor.

Most recently, the union spilled some of its considerable coffers to turn an unknown latecomer to the Democratic primary for Philadelphia district attorney, Jack O’Neill, into a formidable candidate armed with six figures’ worth of television ads. (O’Neill finished sixth out of seven candidates in the May 16 primary). Like many of Doc’s plays, the true purpose of backing O’Neill’s candidacy is inscrutable – rumor has it the relatively modest ad buys weren’t about winning the election, but rather grooming O’Neill for a run at higher offices.

After a wave of recent indictments, it may be the FBI that now holds the union’s fate in its hands. But in the meantime, Doc will continue to be an incongruously potent force in state politics.

6. Rebecca Rimel

President and CEO, Pew Charitable Trusts

Many in Philadelphia’s civic society lament the realignment of the Pew Trusts, founded decades ago by the Delaware Valley-based Sun Oil dynasty, to focus both its mission and its headquarters to Washington, D.C. Although it dimmed the local stature of what was once the city’s most active philanthropic group, the shift, masterminded by Rebecca Rimel, brought the organization considerable influence on the national stage. Once a private foundation with conservative patrons like the John Birch Society, under Rimel’s direction Pew has grown to become an eminently respected nonpartisan, nonprofit think tank with billions in assets, a national lobbying arm and a research division that makes news with its surveys on issues of national import.

Pew still donates millions annually to regional arts and culture organizations, and dominates policy discussions about Philadelphia’s long-term trajectory through its local research arm. That’s not to mention foundation efforts to reform the city’s troubled criminal justice system, track state pension funds or evaluate Pennsylvania’s questionable tax incentive programs. Rimel personally continues to influence local issues, supporting Visit Philadelphia – she was an early champion of its precursor, the Greater Philadelphia Tourism and Marketing Corporation, and Pew provided seed money for its creation – and the controversial relocation of the billion-dollar Barnes art collection from the Philadelphia suburbs to Center City. With seats on the regional PNC Bank advisory board, Conshohocken medical firm Biotelemetry, ProPublica and the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, she is arguably one of the most powerful women in the country.

5. Joe Scarnati

State Senate President Pro Tempore

The Republican Senate President Pro Tempore rules Harrisburg. Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf, seeking re-election, largely plays to the perceived whims of the powerful, GOP-dominated Senate. A chaotic House stands in sharp contrast (and, often, in outright conflict) with the comparatively staid, pragmatic conservatism of Scarnati’s Senate.

Scarnati’s district, where he has lived nearly his entire life, is as varied as his track record in Harrisburg. Spanning some of the most rural, impoverished sections of the state, Scarnati has championed the natural gas industry – widely seen as a major job creator by residents of an upstate region that has struggled to hang onto jobs and residents. He has also taken nuanced stances on other conservative planks like state education funding and property tax elimination that belie his region’s dependence on state education dollars and low taxes. He has scored major wins on liquor privatization, deftly managing industry opposition, and medical marijuana legalization, muting social conservative backlash. In the end, Scarnati has gotten much of what he wants.

Scarnati was easily returned to Senate leadership this year, overseeing a Republican majority stronger than it’s been in decades. His biggest challenge is the state budget. Wolf once battled with Scarnati’s Senate over his agenda items, but today the governor lobs budgets devoid of many of the items he ran on, instead seeking nonpartisan tweaks and efficiencies. It’s in part because he knows better – it is almost implicit that in Harrisburg, Scarnati is the one in the driver’s seat.

4. Bob Casey

U.S. Senator

The senior U.S. senator from Pennsylvania has been enjoying a wave of recent publicity thanks to his embrace of an unexpectedly full-throated populist streak – and of the immediate impact of an effective tweetstorm, most notably with his opposition to the American Health Care Act and his efforts to prevent the deportation of a Honduran woman and her 5-year-old son seeking asylum in the United States who were being detained at a notorios Berks County facility. (They were deported, but his efforts did earn him a public rebuke from the head of Homeland Security). At a time when many Washington Democrats seem to have lost either their voices or their capacity for outrage, Casey hasn’t shied away from speaking his mind and taking action, whether stating his willingness to fight to preserve the Senate’s “blue-slip” prerogative for placing holds on judicial candidates or introducing a bill to end the unconscionable practice of “school lunch shaming.” This newfound activism is just the latest step in Casey’s lifelong political path. The son of Bob Casey, the state’s 42nd governor – and the product of the same Scranton that was home to the families of Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden – has won six statewide elections since 1996, including for auditor general and treasurer as well as his current position. (He lost the Democratic primary for governor to eventual winner Ed Rendell.)

His tenacity has carried over to his time in the Senate: He is the first Pennsylvania Democrat to win a second term in the Senate since 1962, and has risen to 16th in seniority among his party colleagues. That tenure has helped the pro-gun, anti-choice Casey to land on a number of Senate committees, including Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry; Finance; Health, Education, Labor and Pensions; and the Special Committee on Aging.

Like Wolf, Casey is seen as a viable target by GOP leadership in 2018. His relatively weak approval ratings – a Muhlenberg poll had only 34 percent of those questioned giving him positive marks – and the state’s Trumpward turn have induced at least four GOP hopefuls to announce their candidacy to replace him. Additionally, there are more possible opponents waiting in the wings, including U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta, one of Trump’s earliest supporters in the state. They’d better hope the seventh time’s the charm.

3. Tom Wolf

Governor

As the state's chief executive, Tom Wolf has no shortage of obstacles standing in his way, from Republican control of the General Assembly – including a veto-proof supermajority in the state Senate – to a ballooning state deficit with a fast-approaching budget deadline, to a pension crisis with no solution in sight.

That’s why a Franklin & Marshall College poll earlier this month showing Wolf with a year-over-year increase in approval rating from registered Pennsylvania voters – a rating comparable to predecessors Ed Rendell and Tom Corbett at the same time in their first terms – must have come as welcome news.

Granted, that approval rating stood at only 41 percent, but it was still four points higher than the percentage of those same voters who think President Donald Trump is doing a good job.

As Wolf contends with the wide red swath of the commonwealth that led to Trump’s victory here – one that will continue to hold a dim view of any Democratic politician – he continues to press his agenda, driven by pragmatism and current crises, to greater effect than in his first two years in office.

Nowhere is this more evident than in his continuing work on the opioid crisis, crisscrossing the state to hold roundtable discussions, securing funding for treatment and, most recently, criticizing Trump and U.S. House Republicans for championing a health care bill that would, in Wolf’s eyes, seriously compromise how communities fight the crisis.

On both the looming budget deadline and the worsening deficit, Wolf’s approach to dealing with the General Assembly has moderated to best take advantage of his limited leverage and the facts on the ground. Despite Wolf’s proposal that includes some $1 billion in new taxes being at odds with the GOP’s plan to increase revenue through expanded gambling and alcohol sales, there is little of the same anxiety about getting a deal done.

Regardless of his increasing effectiveness, Wolf is still endangered. Democratic governors have become increasingly rare, and Pennsylvania has been rated among the states most likely to flip its chief executive from Democrat to Republican – an assessment borne out by the fact that two GOP challengers have already declared for the 2018 race, with still others testing the waters.

2. Brian Roberts

Chairman and CEO Comcast

Under the watch of Chairman and CEO Brian Roberts, Comcast has grown into an unrivaled corporate titan in Philadelphia. With a $33 million salary and a net worth in the billions, Roberts, the son of the company’s founder, is one of the state’s wealthiest men – and certainly one of the most politically involved. In the city and state, and, increasingly, across the country, Comcast gets what it wants.

A graduate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania who was born, raised and still resides in Philadelphia, Roberts has overseen record growth at the television and internet giant. Today it is valued in excess of $75 billion – nearly 100 times its size when Roberts took the reins as president in 1990 at age 30.

A hugely influential national political donor, along with Senior Vice President David L. Cohen, Roberts has helped set national conversations about the future of telecommunications in America. While there have been high-profile misses, like the company’s (so far) unsuccessful war on net neutrality and its failed merger with Time Warner, Comcast has acquired other media giants, such as NBCUniversal, and overhauled the company’s somewhat tired, cable- era brand. This year, the company set another profit record as it eyes a move into offering wireless phone service.

In Pennsylvania, Roberts has established the company as Philadelphia’s pre-eminent corporate tenant, scoring favorable state tax breaks for Comcast property downtown. Roberts and Cohen have also taken on City Hall, declaring war earlier this year on what they consider to be “anti-business” legislation that has emerged from the City Council. Roberts and Cohen won’t be entering the political fray without backup. According to Opensecrets.org, Comcast has already spent almost $4 million on some 39 lobbying firms in 2017 – after spending $14.3 million in 2016.

Roberts has also donated millions to charity in recent years. He is particularly fond of several private schools and programs that promote the sport of squash in the Philadelphia area, and has donated millions of dollars to a new cancer treatment wing at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

1. PatToomey

U.S. Senator

Pennsylvania's most powerful man is often seen as an enigma. In his 2016 Senate re-election bid, Toomey ran on conservative credentials but famously declined to say if he would vote for Donald Trump. (He ultimately did, casting his ballot after the 6 p.m. newscasts concluded.) To the liberal constituents who hound his offices on a weekly basis, he is an unseen hate object, only half real. But his votes to confirm U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, approve Betsy DeVos as education secretary and kill off the judicial filibuster make real what his public absences do not. Toomey is a political operator cut from a cloth not altogether different from predecessors like the late U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter: He’s a Republican who walks the delicate line required for political survival in a purple state. He is something of an opportunist – 10 years ago, he argued against gay marriage and now publicly supports laws to protect against discrimination based on sexual orientation. Following the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting, Toomey co-signed a bipartisan bill seeking tougher gun control standards. Last year, Republican groups lavished Toomey with money to fend off an underwhelming challenge by Katie McGinty as Democrats sought inroads into a perceived swing state. As it became the most expensive U.S. Senate race in history, Toomey showed off his unparalleled fundraising prowess. He headed into the race with $10 million on hand and routinely set $5 million to $6 million quarterly goals for his campaign on top of the millions pumped into the race by outside super PACs. While his waffling on Trump was widely criticized, it was intended as much to ensure leverage within the future administration as it was to avoid pissing off the president’s supporters back home. An old-guard Republican who was never one for the animus of a Trump rally, Toomey’s rationale was simple: It would be easier to score conservative policy victories under Trump than Hillary Clinton. In the end, Toomey scored on both points (narrowly), embarrassing national Democratic efforts to end his career in the process. As he continues his second term, his profile has rarely been higher. His political survival ensured for years to come, he has become a target of protesters who must now sustain that anti-incumbent momentum for a very long time.