Reggie Thomas (No Party) has defeated Kip Judice (Republican) to be elected Lafayette City Marshal.

In a race that was tight from the time the polls closed till the end, Thomas edged out Judice by 274 votes. It was quite a turnaround for Thomas, who only garnered 26% of the vote in the Primary to Judice's 44%. The Unofficial Turnout in the race was 19.6%.

As KPEL's Bernadette Lee points out, Thomas served as Interim Lafayette Police Chief following Jim Craft's resignation and was integral in working to reorganize the department in the eight months between Craft's resignation and former LPD Chief Toby Aguillard's acceptance of the job.

As the Daily Advertiser points out, Thomas has worked on some of Lafayette's highest-profile crimes and became the highest-ranking black officer in the LPD. And, he's been praised for his ability to work with people throughout the community, who he hopes to serve in this new capacity.

Thomas' victory also makes history, not only as the first African-American Lafayette City Marshal, but the first African American elected in a city-wide election.

Thomas will replace Brian Pope, who was disqualified for running for re-election and was suspended from the position. Michael Hill has been serving as the interim City Marshal.

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