Susan Bysiewicz
Encyclopedia
Susan Bysiewicz served as Secretary of the State of Connecticut
from 1999 to 2011. She was briefly a candidate for Governor of Connecticut in 2010, before dropping out to run for Connecticut Attorney General. She was disqualified from running for the office by the Connecticut Supreme Court and announced in 2011 that she was running for the U.S. Senate to replace the retiring Joe Lieberman
.
, and graduated from Yale University
and Duke University School of Law
. While pursuing her law degree, she wrote Ella: A Biography of Governor Ella Grasso. (Grasso is remembered in Connecticut both for pioneering women's roles in politics, and for serving in late stages of fatal cancer.) Bysiewicz practiced law in New York City
, and then in Hartford
.
(64% of her constituents) and Middlefield
(10%), and throughout the town of Durham
(26%).
. At the state Democratic Convention, she lost the party's endorsement for the nomination, to Representative Ellen Scalettar, but won enough delegates' votes to qualify to run for the nomination in a primary
. During the primary campaign she charged her opponent opposed Megan's Law
and was soft on sex offenders. She won both the nomination, and, in the general election
in November, the office itself. She won re-election in 2002, but in 2005, while serving, she announced her candidacy for the Democratic nomination
for the gubernatorial election of 2006
. She withdrew from that race in September 2005, and on November 7, 2006, won a third term
(running through 2010) as Secretary of the State.
In her time as the chief elections officer and business registrar of the state, she has made technology a focus of her administration. Bysiewicz developed Connecticut’s first electronic filing system for voter registration to prevent fraud and encourage registration. She also instituted an electronic business searching system called CONCORD that allows users to search a database of all the registered companies in the State of Connecticut.
In 2006/2007 Secretary Bysiewicz implemented new voting technology including adoption of the optical scan machine and a vote-by-phone procedure so that Connecticut voters with disabilities are able to vote securely and independently. She advocated with success at the legislature for the passage of a constitutional amendment that would allow 17 year olds to vote in primaries.
, Susan Bysiewicz and Jim Amann, for whom would you vote?” Of the Democrats who responded, 44% said they would vote for Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz, 12% said they would vote for Stamford Mayor Dannel Malloy and 4% said they would vote for James Amann, former Speaker of the House.
In a poll conducted by the Susan Bysiewicz gubernatorial exploratory committee in October 2009, support for incumbent Governor Jodi Rell
fell to 47% in a head to head contest with Susan Bysiewicz who received 41% of the respondents’ vote. When asked how they would vote if the election was held between Rell and Stamford Mayor Dannel Malloy, poll respondents said they would vote 52% for Rell and 31% for Malloy. In Bridgeport alone, those taking part in the poll were asked who they would vote for if the primary were held that day and they said Bysiewicz 31.44 percent, Malloy 14.56 percent.
In January 2010 Bysiewicz dropped her bid for Governor, choosing to instead run for Attorney General
. On January 21, 2010 Quinnipiac University released its results a poll of the primary for Attorney General which found that Susan Bysiewicz had a 52-point lead (Bysiewicz 62, Jepsen 10, Undecided 24, 593 Democratic Voters, MOE +/- 4%).
. Later that evening the Associated Press
, who had also called the race largely based on Bysiewicz' announcement, "un-called" the race when it found that Foley actually led in its vote count. One major reason for the election discrepancies was the conduct of the election in Bridgeport, where local officials ordered an inadequate number of ballots to meet turnout. President Obama had paid a last minute visit to the City of Bridgeport, and introduced Dannel Malloy, and the resulting increase in ballot requirements took the local election board by surprise. Bridgeport Democratic Registrar of Voters Santa Ayala, one of two officials responsible for ordering the ballots, noted that other communities ran out of ballots. She disputed the widely quoted figure of 21,000 ordered ballots, but didn’t provide an alternative number. Ayala said, “We base the number of ballots we order on prior elections. The Republican and Democratic registrars agreed on that number.” .
Bysiewicz cited these counting delays---including an bag of uncounted ballots found after Election Day -- caused by the ballot shortages in Bridgeport for the confusion, though despite her role as Chief Elections Officer she denied bearing any responsibility for the ballot shortages. Bysiewicz said she had directed local officials to order enough ballots but had not monitored Bridgeport officials to ensure the directive was followed, as she had no legal authority to do so.
Bysiewicz answered Tom Foley directly, on a local Connecticut NPR radio program , who complained that she had improperly announced a winner. Bysiewicz argued that she had made it clear the results were "unofficial", and that she was merely, "sharing information", and promised to send Foley any information he required when he requested it.
Bysiewicz planned to announce the official winner of the election on Friday, November 5, after receiving all of the official ballot results. Late afternoon, Friday, November 5, Bysiewicz announced Dannel Malloy as the official winner in the gubernatorial election by a much larger vote total of 5,637 votes which differed from the early results announcement two days earlier when she declared Malloy the unofficial winner by 3,103 votes.
on the issue. Blumenthal responded that he believed the law to be valid, but the question as to whether Bysiewicz met the requirements had to be decided by the courts or the legislature.
Bysiewicz also had to explain filing a form seeking a waiver of a state fee, when she claimed not to be actively practicing law. Her spokesperson said she had made a mistake. While Bysiewicz vowed to continue her campaign despite the qualifications controversy prominent Republicans suggested she was "cooked" and "delusional."
Under deposition on March 31, 2010, Bysiewicz admitted that "she has never argued a case before a judge and couldn't remember being in a courtroom to observe litigation since law school."
On May 5, 2010, Superior Court
Judge Michael Sheldon ruled that Bysiewicz was legally qualified to run for state attorney general. However, when the case reached the Connecticut Supreme Court
on May 18, Justice Flemming L. Norcott, Jr.
handed down the court's 7-0 unanimous ruling that Bysiewicz failed to meet the requirements of General Statutes Section 3-124, which outlines the qualifications for state attorney general. As a consequence, Bysiewicz was unable run for attorney general in 2010, leaving former State Senator
George Jepsen
the sole remaining Democratic candidate in the race, which he subsequently won.
, who will retire at the end of his present term.
Secretary of the State of Connecticut
The Secretary of the State of Connecticut is one of the constitutional officers of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is an elected position in the state government and has a term length of four years....
from 1999 to 2011. She was briefly a candidate for Governor of Connecticut in 2010, before dropping out to run for Connecticut Attorney General. She was disqualified from running for the office by the Connecticut Supreme Court and announced in 2011 that she was running for the U.S. Senate to replace the retiring Joe Lieberman
Joe Lieberman
Joseph Isadore "Joe" Lieberman is the senior United States Senator from Connecticut. A former member of the Democratic Party, he was the party's nominee for Vice President in the 2000 election. Currently an independent, he remains closely affiliated with the party.Born in Stamford, Connecticut,...
.
Early life, education, and law career
Bysiewicz was raised on a farm in Middletown, ConnecticutMiddletown, Connecticut
Middletown is a city located in Middlesex County, Connecticut, along the Connecticut River, in the central part of the state, 16 miles south of Hartford. In 1650, it was incorporated as a town under its original Indian name, Mattabeseck. It received its present name in 1653. In 1784, the central...
, and graduated from Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
and Duke University School of Law
Duke University School of Law
The Duke University School of Law is the law school and a constituent academic unit of Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, United States. One of Duke's 10 schools and colleges, the School of Law began as the Trinity College School of Law in 1868. In 1924, following the renaming of Trinity...
. While pursuing her law degree, she wrote Ella: A Biography of Governor Ella Grasso. (Grasso is remembered in Connecticut both for pioneering women's roles in politics, and for serving in late stages of fatal cancer.) Bysiewicz practiced law in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, and then in Hartford
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...
.
State legislature
She was elected state representative for the 100th Assembly District of Connecticut for three successive terms starting in 1992, representing until 1998 about 22,000 constituents living in parts of the towns of MiddletownMiddletown, Connecticut
Middletown is a city located in Middlesex County, Connecticut, along the Connecticut River, in the central part of the state, 16 miles south of Hartford. In 1650, it was incorporated as a town under its original Indian name, Mattabeseck. It received its present name in 1653. In 1784, the central...
(64% of her constituents) and Middlefield
Middlefield, Connecticut
Middlefield is a town in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 4,203 at the 2000 census. The town includes the village of Rockfall-History:...
(10%), and throughout the town of Durham
Durham, Connecticut
Durham is a town in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States. Durham is a former farming village on the Coginchaug River in central Connecticut. The population was 6,627 at the 2000 census. Every autumn, the town hosts the Durham Fair, the largest volunteer agricultural fair in New...
(26%).
Secretary of State
In 1998, she sought the Democratic nomination for Secretary of the StateSecretary of State (U.S. state government)
Secretary of State is an official in the state governments of 47 of the 50 states of the United States, as well as Puerto Rico and other U.S. possessions. In Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, this official is called the Secretary of the Commonwealth...
. At the state Democratic Convention, she lost the party's endorsement for the nomination, to Representative Ellen Scalettar, but won enough delegates' votes to qualify to run for the nomination in a primary
Primary election
A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....
. During the primary campaign she charged her opponent opposed Megan's Law
Megan's Law
Megan's Law is an informal name for laws in the United States requiring law enforcement authorities to make information available to the public regarding registered sex offenders. Individual states decide what information will be made available and how it should be disseminated...
and was soft on sex offenders. She won both the nomination, and, in the general election
General election
In a parliamentary political system, a general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are chosen. The term is usually used to refer to elections held for a nation's primary legislative body, as distinguished from by-elections and local elections.The term...
in November, the office itself. She won re-election in 2002, but in 2005, while serving, she announced her candidacy for the Democratic nomination
Nomination
Nomination is part of the process of selecting a candidate for either election to an office, or the bestowing of an honor or award.In the context of elections for public office, a candidate who has been selected by a political party is normally said to be the nominee of that party...
for the gubernatorial election of 2006
Connecticut gubernatorial election, 2006
The Connecticut gubernatorial election of 2006 occurred on November 7, 2006. The incumbent, M. Jodi Rell, became Governor when John G. Rowland resigned in 2004...
. She withdrew from that race in September 2005, and on November 7, 2006, won a third term
Term of office
Term of office or term in office refers to the length of time a person serves in a particular office.-Prime Minister:In the United Kingdom, the Prime Minister has no term limits...
(running through 2010) as Secretary of the State.
In her time as the chief elections officer and business registrar of the state, she has made technology a focus of her administration. Bysiewicz developed Connecticut’s first electronic filing system for voter registration to prevent fraud and encourage registration. She also instituted an electronic business searching system called CONCORD that allows users to search a database of all the registered companies in the State of Connecticut.
In 2006/2007 Secretary Bysiewicz implemented new voting technology including adoption of the optical scan machine and a vote-by-phone procedure so that Connecticut voters with disabilities are able to vote securely and independently. She advocated with success at the legislature for the passage of a constitutional amendment that would allow 17 year olds to vote in primaries.
Public record investigation
On February 7, 2010, the Hartford Courant reported that Attorney General Blumenthal was investigating whether Bysiewicz violated the law by using e-mail addresses obtained by her office in their official duties for campaign use—soliciting campaign support and donations.Campaign
On January 27, 2009, Bysiewicz made public her intention to seek the Democratic nomination for governor of Connecticut in the 2010 election.Polling
In February 2009, Quinnipiac University conducted a poll in which they asked:“If the Democratic primary for governor were being held today and the candidates were Dan MalloyDan Malloy
Dannel Patrick "Dan" Malloy is the 88th and current Governor of Connecticut. He was the Mayor of Stamford, Connecticut from December 1995 until December 2009. Malloy had been endorsed by the Connecticut Democratic Party on May 22, 2010 over 2006 Democratic U.S...
, Susan Bysiewicz and Jim Amann, for whom would you vote?” Of the Democrats who responded, 44% said they would vote for Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz, 12% said they would vote for Stamford Mayor Dannel Malloy and 4% said they would vote for James Amann, former Speaker of the House.
In a poll conducted by the Susan Bysiewicz gubernatorial exploratory committee in October 2009, support for incumbent Governor Jodi Rell
Jodi Rell
Mary Jodi Rell is a Republican politician and was the 87th Governor of the U.S. state of Connecticut from 2004 until 2011. She was the Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut under Governor John G. Rowland, who resigned during a corruption investigation. Rell is Connecticut's second female Governor,...
fell to 47% in a head to head contest with Susan Bysiewicz who received 41% of the respondents’ vote. When asked how they would vote if the election was held between Rell and Stamford Mayor Dannel Malloy, poll respondents said they would vote 52% for Rell and 31% for Malloy. In Bridgeport alone, those taking part in the poll were asked who they would vote for if the primary were held that day and they said Bysiewicz 31.44 percent, Malloy 14.56 percent.
In January 2010 Bysiewicz dropped her bid for Governor, choosing to instead run for Attorney General
Connecticut attorney general election, 2010
The 2010 Connecticut attorney general election was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2010 to elect the 24th attorney general of the state of Connecticut. Five-term incumbent Attorney General Richard Blumenthal declined to seek re-election in 2010, instead opting to run for Connecticut's open U.S. Senate...
. On January 21, 2010 Quinnipiac University released its results a poll of the primary for Attorney General which found that Susan Bysiewicz had a 52-point lead (Bysiewicz 62, Jepsen 10, Undecided 24, 593 Democratic Voters, MOE +/- 4%).
Controversial early call of Governor's race
On November 3, one day after the general election, Bysiewicz announced that democratic candidate Dannel Malloy was the unofficial winner of the governor race, beating republican Tom FoleyThomas C. Foley
Thomas Coleman "Tom" Foley is a former U.S. Ambassador to Ireland, Connecticut businessman, and was the Republican candidate in the 2010 gubernatorial election in Connecticut.-Early life and education:...
. Later that evening the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
, who had also called the race largely based on Bysiewicz' announcement, "un-called" the race when it found that Foley actually led in its vote count. One major reason for the election discrepancies was the conduct of the election in Bridgeport, where local officials ordered an inadequate number of ballots to meet turnout. President Obama had paid a last minute visit to the City of Bridgeport, and introduced Dannel Malloy, and the resulting increase in ballot requirements took the local election board by surprise. Bridgeport Democratic Registrar of Voters Santa Ayala, one of two officials responsible for ordering the ballots, noted that other communities ran out of ballots. She disputed the widely quoted figure of 21,000 ordered ballots, but didn’t provide an alternative number. Ayala said, “We base the number of ballots we order on prior elections. The Republican and Democratic registrars agreed on that number.” .
Bysiewicz cited these counting delays---including an bag of uncounted ballots found after Election Day -- caused by the ballot shortages in Bridgeport for the confusion, though despite her role as Chief Elections Officer she denied bearing any responsibility for the ballot shortages. Bysiewicz said she had directed local officials to order enough ballots but had not monitored Bridgeport officials to ensure the directive was followed, as she had no legal authority to do so.
Bysiewicz answered Tom Foley directly, on a local Connecticut NPR radio program , who complained that she had improperly announced a winner. Bysiewicz argued that she had made it clear the results were "unofficial", and that she was merely, "sharing information", and promised to send Foley any information he required when he requested it.
Bysiewicz planned to announce the official winner of the election on Friday, November 5, after receiving all of the official ballot results. Late afternoon, Friday, November 5, Bysiewicz announced Dannel Malloy as the official winner in the gubernatorial election by a much larger vote total of 5,637 votes which differed from the early results announcement two days earlier when she declared Malloy the unofficial winner by 3,103 votes.
2010 Attorney General election
After Bysiewicz announced her bid for Attorney General, a number of observers questioned her legal qualification to hold the post, citing a state statute that requires the Attorney General to have spent ten years in "active practice" of law. Bysiewicz claimed that her years managing the Secretary of the State's office should be applied against this requirement. She sought an opinion from the current Attorney General, Richard BlumenthalRichard Blumenthal
Richard Blumenthal is the junior United States Senator from Connecticut and a member of the Democratic Party. Previously, he served as Attorney General of Connecticut....
on the issue. Blumenthal responded that he believed the law to be valid, but the question as to whether Bysiewicz met the requirements had to be decided by the courts or the legislature.
Bysiewicz also had to explain filing a form seeking a waiver of a state fee, when she claimed not to be actively practicing law. Her spokesperson said she had made a mistake. While Bysiewicz vowed to continue her campaign despite the qualifications controversy prominent Republicans suggested she was "cooked" and "delusional."
Under deposition on March 31, 2010, Bysiewicz admitted that "she has never argued a case before a judge and couldn't remember being in a courtroom to observe litigation since law school."
On May 5, 2010, Superior Court
Connecticut Superior Court
The Connecticut Superior Court is the Connecticut state trial court of general jurisdiction. It hears all matters other than those heard by the Connecticut Probate Courts...
Judge Michael Sheldon ruled that Bysiewicz was legally qualified to run for state attorney general. However, when the case reached the Connecticut Supreme Court
Connecticut Supreme Court
The Connecticut Supreme Court, formerly known as the Connecticut Supreme Court of Errors, is the highest court in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It consists of a Chief Justice and six Associate Justices. The seven justices sit in Hartford, across the street from the Connecticut State Capitol...
on May 18, Justice Flemming L. Norcott, Jr.
Flemming L. Norcott, Jr.
Flemming L. Norcott, Jr. is an Associate Justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court. He was appointed to the Connecticut Superior Court in 1979 and remained there until his elevation to the Connecticut Appellate Court in 1987. He was appointed to the Connecticut Supreme Court in 1992. He also serves...
handed down the court's 7-0 unanimous ruling that Bysiewicz failed to meet the requirements of General Statutes Section 3-124, which outlines the qualifications for state attorney general. As a consequence, Bysiewicz was unable run for attorney general in 2010, leaving former State Senator
Connecticut Senate
The Connecticut State Senate is the upper house of the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The state senate comprises 36 members, each representing a district with around 94,600 inhabitants. Senators are elected to two-year terms without term limits...
George Jepsen
George Jepsen
George Jepsen is an American lawyer, politician, and incumbent Attorney General of Connecticut.George Jepsen was a State Senator from Connecticut's 27th Senate District, representing Stamford and part of Darien, and served in the Connecticut Senate from 1991 to 2003. During his time in the Senate,...
the sole remaining Democratic candidate in the race, which he subsequently won.
2012 U.S. Senate election
On January 18, 2011 Bysiewicz announced she was a candidate in the 2012 election for the U.S. Senate seat now held by Joe LiebermanJoe Lieberman
Joseph Isadore "Joe" Lieberman is the senior United States Senator from Connecticut. A former member of the Democratic Party, he was the party's nominee for Vice President in the 2000 election. Currently an independent, he remains closely affiliated with the party.Born in Stamford, Connecticut,...
, who will retire at the end of his present term.
External links
- Susan Bysiewicz for Senate official campaign site
- Profile at Connecticut Public Broadcasting NetworkConnecticut Public BroadcastingConnecticut Public Broadcasting is the parent company of:* Connecticut Public Television * Connecticut Public Radio Together, the two make up the Connecticut Public Broadcasting Network.-Studios and Facilities:...