A nasty Lafayette City Marshal’s race is finally over.
Brian Pope, a 22-year veteran of the Lafayette City Marshal’s Office, will succeed his longtime boss, 30-year marshal Earl “Nickey” Picard, after defeating former Lafayette Parish sheriff’s deputy Kip Judice in a hotly-contested race.
Pope carried 52 percent of the vote, winning by taking 18,416 votes to Judice’s 16,782 votes.
Pope won Picard’s endorsement in the weeks leading up to the runoff election. Picard was knocked out of the race after finishing third in the November 4 primary.
Pope and Judice traded barbs in the month of campaigning before today’s election. Judice leveled charges that Pope failed to file campaign finance information with state officials. Pope repeatedly mentioned an incident for which Judice was suspended from the sheriff’s office–an incident in which Judice drove a sheriff’s unit after drinking a beer.
Pope will take office on January 1.
