3.   John Mica
U.S. Representative
Age: 67
HALL OF POWER ’10

With SunRail’s chances of coming to fruition in jeopardy last fall, Mica used the carrot-and-stick approach to get the commuter rail project through the Florida Senate, which twice had rejected it. The ranking Republican on the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee warned that the state had no hope of getting $2.6 billion for a high-speed rail line connecting Orlando with Tampa if the Senate didn’t pass SunRail. The tactic worked, but the state got only half the amount it sought for the 90-mile HSR link. Still, Mica, representing Florida’s 7th Congressional District, is pushing grand—and hugely expensive—plans for mass transit via rail, with high-speed, commuter and light rail connecting Florida’s major cities.

2010 Rank: 3

2009 Rank: 40