Former Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell died on Wednesday after a brief illness, according to her family.
They said she died at a Florida hospital. She was 78 years old.
Rell, the 87th governor of Connecticut, was the second female governor in state history and the first Republican woman to serve as governor of the state.
She was a native of Virginia and relocated to Connecticut in 1967 with her late husband Lou, a commercial airline pilot, according to the Governor M. Jodi Rell Center for Public Service.
She served in the Connecticut General Assembly from 1985 to 1995.
Rell served as lieutenant governor from 1995 to 2004 and became governor when Gov. John Rowland resigned in 2004.
She was re-elected to a full term as governor in 2006 and held the office until 2011.
The family said funeral arrangements will be announced in the coming days.