JOAQUIN FLORES—Elected for the first time to the House in 1982, he went to the Senate four years later and managed to re-elect himself at every opportunity ever since.

In Congress, McCain was a pro-business conservative, free-market advocate and enemy of organized labor, but voted against the Republican majority on several key projects. After engaging in a scandal that became known as “Keating Five,” he made the reform of election campaign funding one of his flags.