The couple made the announcement in an email to friends and family with the subject line “happy and hitched.”
The governor’s brother and “best dude,” Jeff Shumlin, poured champagne and “best daughters Olivia and Becca cheered us on.” Shumlin’s sister-in-law Evie Lovett officiated.
“In the several months that we were engaged, we considered all wedding options,” Shumlin and Hunt said. “In the end, despite our wishes to have family and friends with us, Katie’s ‘worst nightmare’ of standing before a HUGE crowd at such an intimate time led us to tonight’s ceremony.”
Shumlin and Hunt are now “off for a long weekend of sun and beach.” They return on Monday.
In an official communication from the governor’s office, Shumlin said: “We are so fortunate to have such a beautiful partnership and to be able to spend the rest of our lives together.”
Hunt and Shumlin were engaged in June. The couple plan to live in Southern Vermont, where they both grew up, after the governor retires from his third term in office January 2017. The couple plans to live in Westminster West.
Hunt is an undergraduate at Mount Holyoke College and has been the governor’s companion since he took office in 2011, according to Scott Coriell, Shumlin’s press secretary.
Hunt, an artist and landscape gardener, has been described as shy and uninterested in politics. Recently, she began appearing at the Statehouse and political events.
Until last October, the governor kept his relationship with Hunt a secret. VTDigger published a profile story about Shumlin that month that included a brief mention of Hunt.
Shumlin is divorced from Deborah Holway, his second wife. His first wife was Preston Parsons.
