While politicians grab the headlines, the teams behind them are crucial in planning and running their campaigns.
Here are the key behind-the-scenes players in the Ontario election:
Progressive Conservatives:
Deb Hutton: An unpaid volunteer in Ernie Eves's office, she holds no title but wields enormous power.
She is known as "Premier Hutton" at Queen's Park because no government action is taken without her approval.
An aide and friend to former premier Mike Harris, she returned to the premier's office after a brief stint at Hydro One.
Jaime Watt: Considered a marketing and messaging genius, Mr. Watt has moved up to the top job of campaign co-chairman after successful stints running communications for the Conservatives in the 1995 and 1999 elections.
He is also working for Toronto mayoral candidate Barbara Hall.
Leslie Noble: One of the original "whiz kids" who rebuilt the Tory party under Mr. Harris, Ms. Noble has stepped up into the role of campaign co-chairwoman with Mr. Watt.
She managed the successful 1995 and 1999 campaigns and is given much of the credit for the victories.
Jeff Bangs: A long-time Eves loyalist, he got started in politics working on an Eves campaign in Parry Sound in his early teens, and eventually became chief of staff when Mr. Eves was finance minister.
Fiercely defensive of his boss, Mr. Bangs returned as his principal secretary when Mr. Eves became Premier.
Guy Giorno: Another "whiz kid," Mr. Giorno was a key player in Mr. Harris's office and was considered the guardian of the neoconservative credo in the Common Sense Revolution of smaller government and lower taxes.
With Mr. Harris's departure, he entered the private sector as a lawyer, but came back to advise Mr. Eves.
Liberals:
Greg Sorbara: Mr. Sorbara is a take-no-prisoners campaign chairman who will accept no excuses for an election loss.
A former cabinet minister, he left politics but returned to be party president in 1999 with the goal of ousting the Tories and implementing more liberal fiscal and social policies. He won a by-election in 2001.
Don Guy: Campaign director for the Liberals, he is reprising the role he performed in the 1999 campaign.
He is responsible for ensuring people know what they are supposed to be doing.
A veteran of Queen's Park politics, Mr. Guy is also senior vice-president at the Pollara polling firm, which has crunched numbers for the Liberals in recent federal and provincial elections.
Phil Dewan: Mr. Dewan joined party leader Dalton McGuinty's office after the 1999 election as chief of staff with a mandate to make it more organized, to set out a four-year program preparing for the next election, and to ensure that Mr. McGuinty met with the right people and had the support staff to help him win.
Matt Maychak: The communications director for Mr. McGuinty has a background as a Queen's Park reporter for both the Toronto Star and CBC television.
A veteran of the 1999 campaign when he travelled with Mr. McGuinty, he is responsible for ensuring the Liberal Leader and candidates deliver a coherent, unified message.
Gerald Butts: As senior policy adviser to Mr. McGuinty, he is widely respected, even among Conservatives, for his grasp of intricate issues and his ability to translate complicated program proposals into easily understood policies.
New Democrats:
Rob Milling: The chief of staff to Party Leader Howard Hampton, Mr. Milling is the head strategist for the New Democrats, co-chairing the campaign team.
He has joined Mr. Hampton in focusing much of the party's campaign on the need to upgrade the province's electricity system and keep it in public hands.
Dianne O'Reggio: As the party's provincial secretary, she is responsible for ensuring that riding associations are prepared to wage effective campaigns, that winnable ridings have the resources they need, and that individual candidates deliver the party's message.
Sheila White: The communications guru holds the impressive credentials of keeping Mel Lastman out of hot water for 10 years while he was mayor of North York. Her NDP assignment is to give the party's message more of an edge, make it more visible, and put Mr. Hampton more at ease in delivering his message.
Charles Campbell: A quiet, studious man who relishes a day dealing with challenging ideas, he is director of research and responsible for the NDP's quick reaction to issues as they hit the political agenda. He has built up a quick-response team to badger the Liberals and the Conservatives throughout the election campaign.
Stephanie Levesque: She carries the title of outreach director at Queen's Park and will be the tour director for Mr. Hampton's campaign. A trusted confidant, she worked on his leadership bid seven years ago.