Kenneth Hopkins is an American Republican politician, former

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

councilman, and current mayor of

Cranston, Rhode Island Cranston, once known as Pawtuxet, is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island. The official population of the city in the 2020 United States Census was 82,934, making it the second largest in the state. The center of population of Rhode Island i ...

Early career

Hopkins attended

Johnston High School Johnston High School is a public secondary school located in Johnston, Iowa. It is part of the Johnston Community School District. The school serves approximately 1,600 students in grades 10 through 12. Freshman students attend Johnston Middle S ...

. He played basketball and baseball, receiving All-Division honors in the latter. He then attended Rhode Island Community College from 1974 to 1976. He was as the baseball team's starting pitcher, earning an 8–2 record and setting a single-season record with a .29 ERA. He then transferred to Rhode Island College, finishing with a 7–2 record with three saves and a 3.22 ERA in 78-1/3 innings pitched as an Anchorman. Hopkins graduated from

Rhode Island College Rhode Island College (RIC) is a public college in Providence, Rhode Island. The college was established in 1854 as the Rhode Island State Normal School, making it the second oldest institution of higher education in Rhode Island after Brown Uni ...

in 1978. He then accepted a position at Our Lady of Providence High School, where he served as an assistant coach for the basketball and baseball team while also teaching history. He then taught at Cranston High School East for over a decade. He also coached for La Salle Academy and Johnston High School. Hopkins left to coach baseball at the

Community College of Rhode Island The Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI) is a public community college in Rhode Island. It is the only community college in the state and the largest community college in New England. The college's primary facility is located in Warwick, with ...

in 1981 as a pitching coach. He was promoted to interim head coach two years later, leading the team to a 20–7 record. He compiled a 68-62-2 record from 1985 to 1989. He then briefly retired from baseball until 2001. During his hiatus, Hopkins served as director of athletics for Cranston Public Schools. He came out of retirement and proceeded to win four NJCAA Region XXI (New England) Division II championships and Coach of the Year awards in 2001, 2002, 2009 and 2012. He also led the team to a trip to the NJCAA Division II World Series. He also served as a teacher at Cranston East until his election to the city council in 2016.

Political career

He served as a city councilman after taking office in fall 2016. In 2020, Hopkins faced Council President Michael Farina in a GOP primary. He was endorsed by incumbent mayor

Allan Fung Allan Wai-Ket Fung (born February 25, 1970) is an American attorney and politician who served as Mayor of Cranston, Rhode Island from 2009 to 2021. He was the Republican nominee for Governor of Rhode Island in the 2014 and 2018 elections as we ...

. He faced Democratic candidate Maria A. Bucci, a former councilwoman, in the general election. Hopkins won approximately 54% of the vote in the general election. In 2022, he announced he was exploring a run for governor of

in the 2022 Rhode Island gubernatorial election.

Personal life

His late wife Mary died of cancer in December 2019.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hopkins, Kenneth Rhode Island Republicans Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Rhode Island College alumni Rhode Island city council members Mayors of Cranston, Rhode Island