New Jersey Representative Donald Payne Jr. Dies at 65
The Democratic Congressman suffered a heart attack earlier this month.
Representative Donald Payne Jr. of New Jersey has passed away today following complications from a heart attack. He suffered the cardiac event on April 6 and reportedly never regained consciousness. He was 65.
Notably, Payne serves the same congressional seat that his father, Donald M. Payne, once served. The elder Payne held New Jersey’s 10th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives from January 1989 until his death from colon cancer in March 2012. The younger Payne won the special election to succeed his father in office.
Payne’s political career started at an early age. He founded and was the first President of the Newark South Ward Junior Democrats when he was a teenager. He was also an adviser at the YMCA Youth in Government program while he studied graphic arts at Kean University. After graduation, he worked for the New Jersey Highway Authority from 1991 to 1996 and then as the Supervisor of Student Transportation for the Essex County Educational Services Commission from 1996 to 2006.
Payne then began his career in elected office. In 2005, he was one of four candidates elected to the at-large seat for the Essex County Board of Freeholders. He ultimately finished in first with 19% of the vote. A few months later he ran for a seat on the Newark City Council. He served concurrently in both roles until November 2012. Furthermore, he was the President of the Newark City Council from July 2010 until his resignation.
Following the death of his father, Payne launched his campaign for both the special election and the general election to represent the 10th District. Both primaries were held on June 5, and both general elections occurred on November 6. He obtained overwhelming majorities in the Democratic primaries for both races and easily won during the general election.
Payne was re-elected in 2022 to what became his final term in office with a 77.6-20.0 majority against Republican David Pinckney. Three third-ballot candidates also appeared on the ballot. He filed to seek another term in office this fall. He will win the June 4 primary posthumously.
The Democratic County Chairs of the three counties in the district will then have to lay out a process for selecting a candidate to replace Payne on the general election ballot. It’s unclear if New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy will schedule a special election to fill the remaining months on Payne’s current term.
During the 118th Congress, Payne served on the House Committee on Homeland Security and the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. He was also the Ranking Member of the Transportation Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials.
New Jersey’s 10th Congressional District is a majority-Black seat based in parts of Essex, Hudson and Union Counties. It covers parts of Newark and Jersey City. Democrats have controlled the district since the election of Peter W. Rodino in 1948.
Under the current lines, Joe Biden won the 10th District with an 80.6-18.6 finish against Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election. That came as Biden was carrying the state 57.34-41.40 in his ultimately successful national campaign. That was the best result for Biden in any of the state’s congressional districts.