US senator Mitch McConnell was first married to Sherrill Redmon from 1968 until 1980, after which he found love with Elaine Chao. He married Chao — who had previously held the position of secretary of labor under former President George W. Bush and served as transportation secretary under President Donald Trump — in a private ceremony at the Capitol Hill chapel in 1993.
“People remark that I’m in a mixed marriage. I don’t see it that way,” he once stated, as per TIME. “In my first marriage, I married a liberal. Now that was a mixed marriage. With Elaine, she and I understand one another.”
Who is Sherrill Redmon?
Sherrill Redmon and McConnell first crossed paths in 1962 as students at the University of Louisville. Citing reports. Late Magazine said that they started dating approximately six months later, forming a deep bond throughout their college experience.
Although their marriage commenced during McConnell’s initial career development, Redmon was concurrently advancing her own academic goals, managing graduate studies alongside family responsibilities.
Redmon later emerged as a prominent feminist scholar following their divorce in 1980. She dedicated her many years to the preservation of women’s history and the promotion of marginalized voices.
After obtaining her Ph.D. in American History from the University of Kentucky, Redmon took on the role of director of the Sophia Smith Collection at Smith College in 1993, a globally recognized repository for women’s history archives. Her efforts significantly diversified the collection, enhancing its racial and cultural representation, which stands in stark contrast to her ex-husband’s increasingly conservative political path.
McConnell has three kids from first marriage
In his first marriage, McConnell had three daughters: Elly, Claire, and Porter. His children have mostly stayed out of the public eye.
As reported by The New Yorker, Elly — Mitch’s first child — is a registered Democrat. Both Elly and Claire tend to lead more private lives compared to Porter.
On the other hand, Porter previously held the position of campaign director for Take On Wall Street, an organization backed by labor unions and nonprofit entities, from 2017 to 2025. Her LinkedIn profile says that she is currently working as an independent consultant at MPM Strategic Services.
Porter has also gained attention for her criticisms of the Republican Party on her social media platforms.
