PLAINVILLE, Conn. (AP) -- State Rep. Betty Boukus, who served more than two decades in the General Assembly before losing a high-profile re-election bid last month, has died. She was 73.

House Speaker Brendan Sharkey's office said Boukus, who co-chaired the legislature's powerful bonding subcommittee, died Friday. She had been battling cancer.

The Plainville Democrat was a teacher by training, but had served in the House since 1994.  She was defeated in November by her Republican opponent, Dr. William Petit, who became a national figure after a 2007 home invasion in Cheshire that took the lives of his wife and two daughters.

Sharkey remembered Boukus as a caring lawmaker who understood that her legislative decisions had a human impact.

Boukus is survived by her husband, Gary, two adult children and four grandchildren.

Governor Dannel Malloy has directred the State flags to fly at half-staff in honor of Boukus.  State flags should be lowered beginning immediately until sunset on the date of interment, which has not yet been determined.