As the Speaker of the House of Representatives in Connecticut, Chris Donovan (D-Meriden) is a powerful man. Elected to the position in January, Speaker Donovan had previously served as Majority Leader for two terms and has been in the General Assembly since 1992.

Rep. Kelvin Roldán (D) has a powerful story. Born in Puerto Rico and raised in Hartford's Stowe Village housing project along with seven of his siblings, Roldán has come a long way.

At the age of 26, newly elected Maine State Rep. Elsie Flemings (D- Bar Harbor) has a long history of public interest work. Rep. Flemings has long been dedicated to public service, serving as a fair trade organizer for the congressional campaign of Rep. Zack Space (D-Ohio), and later as his congressional aide once he was elected.

Sen. Amanda Aguirre has spent her professional life advocating for the needs of families in rural communities. Through her work with non-profits, she gave voice to the most underserved population in Arizona. "For many years I had been coming to the legislature advocating for funding and assistance for those families...the most needy...," she says.

A ceramic artist by training, Arizona Senator Meg Burton Cahill (D-AZ) has extended her crafting skills far beyond a college art studio to the hotbed of public-policy making in the Arizona state legislature. Her passion for community politics matured after she completed a Masters in Public Administration, and with the advent of the Clean Elections system in Arizona, she decided the time had finally come for her to run for office.

Rep. David Lujan (D-AZ) was always fascinated by the legislative process and worked behind the scenes for years. In 2002 he was elected to the Phoenix Union School Board which began his career as a public servant. In 2004, Lujan decided to run for the state legislature - and he decided to use the state's Clean Elections system to run.