After irregularities in a hotly-contested gubernatorial election brought her into the spotlight, Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz ’83 has some rebuilding to do, according to a piece in the New York Times.

The piece details the highs and lows of what has been a roller-coaster year for the New Haven-born Bysiewicz. At the beginning of 2010, Bysiewicz led frontrunner Ned Lamont SOM ’80 and governor-elect Dan Malloy in polling for the Democratic nomination for governor. But when former attorney general Richard Blumenthal LAW ’73 announced in January he would be leaving his post to run for U.S. Senate, Bysiewicz jumped into the race for attorney general. In May, though, the state Supreme Court ruled that Bysiewicz was not eligible to be attorney general because she had not practiced law for 10 years.

Last week, Bysiewicz came under fire for voting irregularities across the state, for which she has said she cannot be blamed because Connecticut’s electoral system is so decentralized. After she announced last Wednesday that Democrat Dan Malloy had won the election based on unofficial returns, Republican gubernatorial nominee Tom Foley criticized her for calling the race “prematurely.” Some, the article said, have even compared her to Katherine Harris, the secretary of state in Florida who watched over the statewide recount in the 2000 presidential election.

Of her year, Bysiewicz told the Times: “I was brought up on a farm, and I’ve learned that every opportunity that I’ve had in my life has come from hard work and persistence.” She added that “things happen for a reason. We’ll have to see how life unfolds.”

According to the article, Bysiewicz is “seriously weighing” a run in 2012 for the seat currently occupied by Independent Sen. Joseph Leiberman ’64 LAW ’67.