Larry Hopkins

Larry Jones Hopkins
United States Representative for Kentucky's 6th congressional district (based about Lexington)
In office January 3, 1979 – January 3, 1993
Preceded by	John B. Breckinridge
Succeeded by	Scotty Baesler
Kentucky State Senator
In office 1976–1978
Kentucky State Representative
In office 1972–1976
Born	October 25, 1933 Detroit, Michigan
Died	November 15, 2021 (aged 88) Lexington, Kentucky
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Carolyn Pennebaker Hopkins (married 1956-2021, his death)
Children	Two daughters and a son, the actor Josh Hopkins
Alma mater	Murray State University
Military Service
Service/branch	United States Marine Corps
Years of service	1954–1956

Larry Jones Hopkins (October 25, 1933 – November 15, 2021) was a Republican politician who represented from 1979 to 1993 Kentucky's 6th congressional district, based about Lexington from 1979 to 1993. In 1991, he was the unsuccessful Republican gubernatorial nominee, losing to Brereton Jones, a former West Virginia Republican legislator who in 1975 turned Kentucky Democrat.

Background[edit]

Hopkins was born in Detroit, Michigan, to Glenn Hopkins (1908-1994) but was reared in Kentucky. He attended public schools in Wingo in Graves County in southwestern Kentucky. He enrolled at Murray State University in Murray in Calloway County, also in the southwestern portion of the state.

From 1954 to 1956, Hopkins served in the United States Marine Corps and thereafter became a stockbroker with Hilliard Lyons in Louisville.

Political life[edit]

He served as the Fayette County clerk prior to his election in 1971 to the Kentucky House of Representatives. Before entering Congress, he was a state senator from 1976 to 1978. During his tenure in Congress, Hopkins was a member of the House Armed Services Committee,^[1] in which capacity he was a co-sponsor of the Goldwater–Nichols Act, cosponsored by Republican Barry Goldwater of Arizona and Democrat William Flynt "Bill" Nichols (1918-1988) of Alabama. The law ordered the realignment of military bases across the nation.^[2]

In his gubernatorial race, Hopkins narrowly defeated Lawrence Eugene "Larry" Forgy, a Frankfort attorney^[3] attorney who was the legal counsel to Republican former Governor Louie B. Nunn. Hopkins polled 81,526 votes (50.6 percent) in the primary to Forgy's 79,581 (49.4 percent)^[4] Hopkins lost the general election to Brereton Jones, who polled 540,468 votes (64.7 percent) to Hopkins' 294,452 (35.3 percent).^[5]

Hopkins did not seek re-election to the House in 1992 because of his weak gubernatorial performance the year before and his role in the House banking scandal in which lawmakers made a habit of bouncing personal checks.^[6] Hopkins was later exonerated of all charges and served as the director of the Tobacco Division of the Agricultural Marketing Service in the administration of U.S. President George Herbert Walker Bush. He also was a lobbyist for Lott & Hopkins LLC and Sonny Callahan & Associates LLC.^[7]

Personal life[edit]

Hopkins was married to Carolyn Pennebaker in 1956 and had two daughters and a son, Josh Hopkins (born 1970), who later became an actor.^[8]

Legacy[edit]

On November 15, 2021, Hopkins died in Lexington at the age of eighty-eight.^[9]

Moderate Republican U.S. Senate Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said that Hopkins cared deeply for the state. As a former Marine, he used his expertise on the House Armed Services Committee to reform and modernize the military and before that worked as a state lawmaker to improve the lives of farmers, McConnell said in a statement.^[10]

U.S. Representative Andy Barr, who holds the seat that Hopkins vacated in 1993, said in a statement that Hopkins was “a legend in Kentucky politics” who was a mentor and friend. Serving for over a decade in the seat I now hold, Larry rose to being the top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee. He was beloved by both sides of the aisle, and his humor was famous with constituents and colleagues,” Barr said.^[10]

References[edit]