A nice Jewish boy from Miami Beach, now settled in Palm Beach County, State Rep. Pafford's firm, calm manner makes his unrepentantly progressive public-policy positions seem like the only reasonable choice a sane voter could make. Thankfully, there appear to be enough sane voters in his district to assure a long career in that post or serve as a springboard to something higher. A naturalist since his youth (and as of February, CEO of the Arthur R. Marshall Foundation for the Everglades), he worked 20 years in the nonprofit sector until first elected to the state House in 2008. In three terms in office, he's authored legislation to aid the homeless and the aged and to crack down on corruption, organized crime, and sex offenders. He's been chosen to serve as the Democratic minority leader starting next fall, but he can mix it up too, and has, with the GOP — in an amazing display of bipartisan outreach, last year he organized and hosted the Legislature's first Sea Level Rise Symposium. He understudied for a time with the famously combative Lois Frankel, now a U.S. rep, but Pafford more typically radiates genuine warmth and good humor, making him a natural at retail politics. Guy's a comer.