Sandra Pupatello made a name for herself in opposition at Queen’s Park as a Liberal pit bull who loved nothing better than a political bare knuckles fight on the floor of the Legislature.

Now with the polish of a short sojourn in the corporate world and several years of government experience under her belt, the 50-year-old former Windsor Woman of the Year, is expected to leave her Bay Street job to run for leader of the beleaguered Ontario Liberals.

Former Tory cabinet minister John Snobelen told the Toronto Star that Pupatello is a force to be reckoned with.

“She is feisty, full on, she hit every file very energetically. That’s her stock and trade, her intensity and energy she brings to whatever she does. She will be a very serious contender,” Snobelen said.

She will sit down with her Newfoundland politician husband MHA Jim Bennett, a former Windsor, Ont. lawyer, this weekend to mull over her leadership bid. But the answer will most assuredly be yes.

The delegated leadership convention is being held Jan. 25-27.

The fact that fellow Windsor resident Finance Minister Dwight Duncan isn’t interested in the top job and won’t be running in the next election has opened the door for Pupatello’s return to Queen’s Park, where she was a member of Premier Dalton McGuinty’s cabinet from the time the Liberals formed government in 2003.

During her tenure, she was minister of community and social services, education and economic development. But the lure of corporate Canada in 2011 overcame her political ambition and she left the Park after 16 years to become director of business development and global markets at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.

The former Windsor West MPP, first elected in 1995, made a name for herself in opposition with her daily question period rants against Progressive Conservative premiers Mike Harris and later Ernie Eves. She got under the skin of government members like no other.

In 2002, Pupatello, who was the deputy Liberal leader, rocked the Eves’ government when she exposed a secret plan to bring in a $10-million tax break for pro sports teams.

Pupatello accused the government of starving the health-care system of funds “so that you can give the money to your friends, people like Ted Rogers, Paul Godfrey,” referring to the owner and the president of the Blue Jays baseball team.

A visibly angry Eves said later the same day the measure would be killed, but from that point on Pupatello was in the Tory government’s sights.

Janet Ecker, a veteran of the Harris/Eves government, felt the sting of Pupatello tongue on more than a few occasions.

“She was my critic on more than one occasion and she was a very effective critic … she wasn’t someone you took lightly. When she stood up you sort of got ready because it was usually a wallop upside of your head. You had to be on your game,” said Ecker, who held the finance, education and social services portfolios.

Ecker, now president of the Toronto Financial Services Alliances, a public-private partnership between government and Canada’s leading financial services firms, worked closely with Pupatello when she was economic development minister in trying to generate investment in Ontario and job creation.

“She was a great booster of Ontario, had great presence and wasn’t shy about selling aggressively the benefits and the values of Ontario,” she told the Star.

Some observers, however, say once Pupatello moved from opposition to government her profile seem to fade and it wasn’t until later when she was economic development minister that she found her stride. The Windsor native specifically asked for the portfolio.

Liberal and even Conservatives sources told the Toronto Star that Pupatello’s political hiatus gives her an advantage over some of the other contenders as she isn’t tainted by many of the controversies dogging the party, including the scrapping of power plants in Mississauga and Oakville that has cost Ontario taxpayers tens of million of dollars.

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Even so, former Progressive Conservative MPP Bill Murdoch doesn’t think Pupatello can separate herself from McGuinty’s legacy and at best will be running to be leader of the opposition.

Even when she was in McGuinty’s cabinet she was frequently mentioned as a possible replacement for McGuinty, who suddenly announced on Oct. 15 that he was stepping down, while at the same hitting the pause button on the Legislature until a new Grit leader can be picked.

But if she goes for it, she won’t be alone. Several current Liberal MPPs, and even some former ones like Pupatello could to join the race, including Gerard Kennedy and George Smitherman.