Born in Rocky Mount in Franklin County, Virginia, Hopkins graduated from Washington and Lee University a semester early in 1942 so he could join the United States Marine Corps.

[1] Elected to the Virginia State Senate that November, Hopkins served in that part-time position for 18 years, from January 1960 until he was defeated for re-election by Republican Ray L. Garland in 1979.

[2] He later commented on the political division that racial segregation caused—as he entered the Senate, 19 Democrats were willing to close the public schools to prevent racial integration, and he was among the 19 Democrats classified as "liberal" because they wanted to keep the public schools open, as did the Senate's two Republicans (James Turk of Radford and Floyd Landreth of Carroll County).

[3] Initially, Hopkins fought to repeal the poll tax, which had prevented many African Americans, as well as poor whites, from voting.

Slowly, taxes were levied: first on cigarettes, whisky and beer, as well as two cents per gallon of gas during the Almond administration.

As the Byrd Organization crumbled, Hopkins helped Governor Mills E. Godwin Jr. (1966-1970) make Virginia's social service infrastructure competitive with other states.

Fellow Democratic senators elected Hopkins as their majority leader from 1972 to 1976, when Republican Linwood Holton was governor.

Hopkins also served as commander of his local American Legion post, and was active in the Veterans of Foreign Wars.