Richard Mallary

U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy: Getty Images PhotoU.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Middlesex) seems to be everywhere these days, from fighting to ban cluster bombs in Dublin to challenging big oil company executives on the Senate floor. He'll even make an appearance in this summer's eagerly awaited Batman flick, "The Dark Knight."

Although Leahy himself, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, is no superhero, his political prowess is matched by few. Congress.org, a non-partisan website that ranks politicians' influence in Washington, named Leahy the fourth most-powerful U.S. senator in the nation and the fourth most-powerful man in the Democratic Party.

But few could have predicted Leahy's rise to power, his longevity or his success. First elected in 1974, he became the first and only Democrat to represent Vermont in the U.S. Senate; at the age of 34, he was the youngest as well.

Former Gov. Philip Hoff supports Bill Richardson for PresidentFormer Gov. Philip H. Hoff says he is supporting Bill Richardson for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination, but another former Democratic Governor, Thomas M. Salmon, remains undecided about his vote in the March 4 Vermont primary.

On the Republican side, Richard W. Mallary, who represented Vermont in Congress from 1972 to 1975, said he has also not decided on a presidential candidate.

Patrick Leahy won a close race for U.S. Senate against Richard Mallary in 1974, and is now in his sixth term in the Senate: Getty Images Photo
Former Republican Rep. Richard W. Mallary is not certain he would have been re-elected to the US Senate had he defeated Democrat Patrick J. Leahy in his 1974 U.S. Senate bid, Mallary told PolitickerVT.com on Sunday.

“Given my political philosophy, I would not have lasted long. I’m a moderate Republican and that seems to be a vanishing breed,” said the 78-year-old Mallary, who won a Special Election for Congress in 1971 and was re-elected in 1972.