By the late 1990's, he had become the chairman of the county party, too.

Each of the 105 counties in Kansas has an active county party.

But several candidates backed by the county party did lose.

"The point is, you pass the hat and the county party gets to keep it."

The county Democratic party soon copied the practice.

But it was her assiduous courting of the powerful county party bosses that had the most impact.

She is the first woman to lead the county party in either Suffolk or Nassau.

It's also important that she establish priorities independent of the county party bosses and other forces who helped to elevate her to speaker.

Party leaders contended that the state party did not have legal jurisdiction over county parties.

Truly, from our headquarters to the 15 county parties, the ratio was 100 to zero.