Rep. Richard Corcoran (R-Trinity), 47

[Photo: Mark Foley]

Making his mark: Corcoran, an attorney with the Tampa firm Broad and Cassel, cut his teeth in politics by serving as a research assistant to the House Republicans and eventually becoming an adviser to former Florida GOP House Speakers Daniel Webster, Tom Feeney and Marco Rubio. With close ties to the Tampa Bay and Miami-Dade legislative delegations, Corcoran had little trouble locking down enough pledges to become House Speaker in 2017-18. He's known for leading the charge to repeal the use of red-light cameras. (His bill passed the House but failed in the Senate.) He had better luck with a health care transparency bill he authored that requires primary care physicians and other clinics to publish and post a schedule of prices for various medical procedures so patients paying out of pocket can make informed decisions.

Notable: He's been spearheading an effort to change the culture of the Legislature. Once a week, Corcoran and other first-term GOP lawmakers get together and go through "great leadership books" with the goal of creating a "constitution of how we believe the institution should be run. It's the thing I'm most passionate about because I think what it could do is have a systemic cultural change in the Legislature, and the biggest change that I think we all agree on is that the special interests have too much influence," says Corcoran.

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fort Walton Beach), 30

[Photo: Meredith Geddings]

Making his mark: Almost from day one, Gaetz has engaged in lively floor debates, prolifically filing amendments to bills. In 2011, he helped draft significant portions of HB 993, a bill that streamlined Florida's environmental permitting process, and he considers it some of his most significant work to date. On and off the floor, Gaetz isn't afraid of making waves. In 2010, he and another lawmaker sued former Gov. Charlie Crist on behalf of a Crist campaign contributor who was seeking public records related to Crist's abrupt party switch. In 2011, he publicly chastised Okaloosa County officials over a disagreement about legislation that would have made changes to the county's pretrial release program. He's inspired the wrath of liberals for his stances on everything from abortion to teachers unions. Gaetz says his hard-charging, gung-ho style suits his district. "I come from the most Republican-performing district in the state — out of all 120, mine performs the most Republican — so in many ways my role here is to be a conservative champion and to provide a very zealous defense of the conservative cause. To do that, you have to keep your eyes open and your head on swivel."

Notable: Gaetz has powerful allies in the state Senate, most notably, his father, soon-to-be Senate President Don Gaetz. The younger Gaetz is making a name for himself in the social media world. "One of the interns that I'd hired to work in my office told me you aren't anybody unless you have an active social media presence. Someone just handed me a phone and showed me how to tweet, and they're probably regretting doing that."

Rep. Jeff Clemens (D-Lake Worth), 42

[Photo: Damon Higgins/The Palm Beach Post/ZUMAPRESS.com]

Making his mark: Being in the minority party doesn't discourage the former Lake Worth mayor. "Our role is a little bit different," says Clemens. "We can't expect to pass bills left and right. We have to find more subtle ways to be effective. We're expected to be the vocal opposition against things we think will be damaging to the state. It's a role I take pretty seriously." A former reporter for newspapers in Virginia, Ohio, West Virginia and Naples, Clemens has a knack for asking tough questions and delivering verbal zingers that bruise his GOP counterparts. His oft-repeated line in 2011: "I walk in this building every day and ask my aide, ‘Who are we sticking it to today?' " Colleagues usually put him in a good debate position — either in an opening slot or doing "clean-up" at the tail end of a policy debate. His wonkish side landed him the position of deputy policy chief for the Democratic Caucus upon his arrival in Tallahassee. He files a "pet peeve bill of the year" each session. In 2011, he targeted drivers who refuse to yield the left lane. This year, he went after gas stations with a bill requiring them to post both cash and credit prices for gas. He also got a lot of attention, and some flak, for sponsoring the first-ever medical marijuana bill. His position as the ranking Democrat on the State Affairs Committee, meanwhile, has cast him as one of the chief defenders of state workers, and he led the charge against the pension-reform bills.

Notable: Clemens' next big battle is figuring out what to do in the aftermath of redistricting. "I'm probably the single most affected Democrat in the state of Florida by the redistricting plan. The city where I was mayor has been broken up into four different House districts. As you can imagine, this fragments my supporters and people I've represented in the Legislature and as mayor." On a more personal level, Clemens is the singer in a musical group called the Datura Street Band.