Former Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell died Wednesday after a brief illness at age 78. She healed the state after corruption scandals that rocked the state Capitol.

Former Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell has died at age 78. Rell’s family say she died Wednesday at a Florida hospital following a brief illness.

She was lieutenant governor when her boss, Gov. John G. Rowland, resigned in a corruption scandal. The second woman to lead the state, she was later elected in her own right.