Thomas, Reginald "Reggie"

In December of 2012, in a special election, Democrat Reggie Thomas defeated Independent Richard Maloney and Republican Michael Johnson. Reggie Thomas became the first African American to represent Lexington in the Kentucky Senate. It was the first time a majority white district (District 13) in Kentucky elected an African American senator. Reggie Thomas replaced Kathy Stein, who left the Senate to accept a judgeship position. Reggie Thomas is the third African American elected to the Kentucky Senate (the other two were Louisville Senators Georgia Powers and Gerald Neal). Reginald Thomas was also the first African American associate professor at the University of Kentucky College of Law. He is a graduate of Bryan Station High School in Lexington, KY; a 1975 graduate of Dartmouth College; and a 1978 graduate of Harvard Law School.  For more see Connections with Renee Shaw - Reggie Thomas, Ron Spriggs, Bobby Scroggins (#914); "Historic Senate win," Lexington Herald-Leader, 12/13/2013, p.A16; S. Youngman, "Democrat Reginald Thomas wins state Senate special election," Lexington Herald-Leader, 12/13/2013, p.A1; and P. K. Muhammad, "Reginald Thomas rises above despite opposition to become senator," The Key Newsjournal, 01/08/2014 [online].