Kenneth Hopkins | |
---|---|
Mayor of Cranston, Rhode Island | |
Assumed office January 5, 2021 | |
Preceded by | Allan Fung |
Personal details | |
Political party | Republican |
Education | Rhode Island College (BA) |
Kenneth Hopkins is an American Republican politician who is serving as the mayor of Cranston,Rhode Island,since 2021. He is a former Rhode Island councilman,having been elected in 2016. [1]
Hopkins attended Johnston High School. He played basketball and baseball,receiving All-Division honors in the latter. He then attended Community College of Rhode Island 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. [2]
Hopkins graduated from Rhode Island College 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. [3] He then taught at Cranston High School East for over a decade. [3] He also coached for La Salle Academy and Johnston High School. [2]
Hopkins left to coach baseball at the Community College of Rhode Island in 1981 as a pitching coach. [4] 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. [2]
Hopkins 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. He faced Democratic candidate Maria A. Bucci,a former councilwoman,in the general election. [4] Hopkins won approximately 54% of the vote in the general election. [5] In 2022,he announced he was exploring a run for governor of Rhode Island in the 2022 Rhode Island gubernatorial election. [6] The Boston Globe reported in 2023 that Hopkins' plans for the Budlong Pool,one of the country's largest outdoor municipal swimming pools,to be replaced with one around a third of the size had become a significant political issue in the city. [7]
State representative Barbara Ann Fenton-Fung unsuccessfully challenged Hopkins in the Republican primary for the 2024 mayoral election. [8] Early in the race,Hopkins was criticized by his political opponents because the city's had hired all three of his children during his tenure as mayor; [9] later that year,the Rhode Island Ethics Commission dismissed a complaint which accused Hopkins of nepotism in the hiring and promotion of his son-in-law in the city's fire department. [10] Leading up to the primary election,in August,the Hopkins campaign mailed political ads critical of Fenton-Fung's voting record,which The Providence Journal characterized as misleading, [11] and a local businessman filed a lawsuit which accused Hopkins of taking an unregistered antique car from him,a claim that Hopkins denies. [12] Hopkins was reelected to his second term after defeating Democratic candidate Robert Ferri in the general election. [13]
Hopkins' late wife Mary died of cancer in December 2019. [4]
Cranston,formerly known as Pawtuxet,is a city in Providence County,Rhode Island,United States. The official population of the city in the 2020 United States Census was 82,934,making it the second-largest city in the state. The center of population of Rhode Island is located in Cranston. Cranston is a part of the Providence metropolitan area.
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The Pawtuxet River,also known as the Pawtuxet River Main Stem and the Lower Pawtuxet,is a river in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. It flows 12.3 miles (19.8 km) and empties into the upper Narragansett Bay of the Atlantic Ocean. Together with its two main tributary branches,the North Branch Pawtuxet River and the South Branch Pawtuxet River,it drains a watershed of 231.6 square miles (600 km2),all of which is in the state of R.I.
The Narragansett Brewing Company is an American brewery founded in Cranston,Rhode Island in 1890. Founders included John H. Fehlberg,Augustus F. Borchandt,Herman G. Possner,George M. Gerhard,Constand A. Moeller,and Jacob Wirth.
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Nicholas A. Mattiello is an American politician and Democratic former member of the Rhode Island House of Representatives,who represented the 15th District from 2007 to 2021. He served as the Speaker of the Rhode Island House of Representatives from March 25,2014 to 2021. In 2020,he was defeated in an upset by Republican Barbara Ann Fenton-Fung,the wife of Cranston mayor Allan Fung.
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Allan Wai-Ket Fung 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 well as the Republican nominee for U.S. representative for Rhode Island's 2nd congressional district in 2022.
The 2018 Rhode Island gubernatorial election was held on November 6,2018,to elect the governor of Rhode Island,concurrently with the election of Rhode Island's Class I U.S. Senate seat,as well as other elections to the United States Senate in other states,elections to the United States House of Representatives,and various state and local elections.
The 2022 Rhode Island gubernatorial election was held on November 8,2022,to elect the governor of Rhode Island. Incumbent Democratic governor Dan McKee became Rhode Island's governor on March 2,2021,when term-limited Gina Raimondo resigned following her confirmation as United States Secretary of Commerce. McKee easily won a full term on election day,defeating Republican Ashley Kalus by more than 19 percentage points.
The 2022 United States House of Representatives elections in Rhode Island were held on November 8,2022,to elect the two U.S. representatives from the state of Rhode Island,one from each of the state's 2 congressional districts. The elections coincided with other elections to the House of Representatives,elections to the United States Senate and various state and local elections. It followed a primary election on September 13,2022.
Barbara Ann Fenton-Fung is an American politician serving as a member of the Rhode Island House of Representatives for the 15th district. Elected in November 2020,she assumed office on January 5,2021.
Elections are held in Providence,Rhode Island to elect the city's mayor. Such elections are regularly scheduled to be held in United States midterm election years.
The 2022 Rhode Island lieutenant gubernatorial election was held on November 8,2022,to elect the lieutenant governor of the state of Rhode Island. The election coincided with various other federal and state elections,including for Governor of Rhode Island. Primary elections were held on September 13. Rhode Island is one of 21 states that elects its lieutenant governor separately from its governor.
The 2022 Rhode Island General Treasurer election took place on November 8,2022,to elect the General Treasurer of Rhode Island.
The 2024 Rhode Island House of Representatives elections will take place on Tuesday,November 5,2024,with the primary election to be held on Tuesday,September 10,2024. Rhode Island voters will select state representatives in all 75 seats of the House to serve two-year terms.