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Representative Donald M. Payne Jr., a Democrat from Newark who succeeded his father, New Jersey’s first Black member of Congress, died on Wednesday in Newark within the midst of his sixth time period on Capitol Hill. He was 65.
He had been hospitalized in Newark and unconscious since April 6, when he sustained a coronary heart assault ensuing from problems of diabetes, in keeping with his workplace. His loss of life was introduced by Gov. Phil Murphy.
In 1988, Donald Payne Sr. fulfilled a dream he had publicly proclaimed 14 years earlier: being elected to the House as the primary Black member of his state’s congressional delegation. He succeeded Peter W. Rodino Jr., whom he had unsuccessfully challenged earlier and who had retired.
In 2012, shortly after Mr. Payne died at 77, Donald Payne Jr. received a particular election to fill the rest of his time period. He then survived a contentious six-way main to win the Democratic nomination to signify the tenth District, which incorporates elements of Essex, Hudson and Union Counties, for a full two-year time period starting in January 2013.
The youthful Mr. Payne was recognized for serving to to safe $900 million in a federal allocation for the Gateway tunnel mission beneath the Hudson River between New Jersey and New York, and for his help of lead testing at school water programs to forestall most cancers and different illnesses, a measure that handed the House and later the Senate. He additionally pressed for improved emergency responses to hurricanes and different pure disasters and proposed a neighborhood gun buyback program to enhance public security.
When the Democrats managed the House of Representatives, earlier than the 2022 election, he was chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials and the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Response and Recovery.
In 2022, he had anticipated to face a main problem from his left flank. But a severe one didn’t materialize, and he received the Democratic nomination with 84 p.c of the vote.
Donald Milford Payne Jr. was born on Dec. 17, 1958, in Newark. He was 5 years outdated when his mom, Hazel (Johnson) Payne, died, leaving his father to lift three kids alone.
After graduating from Hillside High School in Hillside, N.J., in 1976, he studied graphic arts at Kean College (now Kean University) in Union. He started working for the New Jersey freeway authority in 1991 — his jobs included Garden State Parkway toll collector — and in 1996 joined the Essex County Educational Services Commission as supervisor of pupil transportation.
He entered politics as president of the South Ward Young Democrats and commenced his electoral profession in 2005 as a countywide candidate for Essex County freeholder, or commissioner. It was the identical route his father had taken as a political novice in 1972. He was later elected president of the Newark City Council.
Mr. Payne had been working unopposed within the June 4 Democratic main. It shall be left to Governor Murphy to schedule a brand new date and a date for a particular election to complete Mr. Payne’s unexpired time period.
Mr. Payne’s survivors embody his spouse, Beatrice Payne, and their 25-year-old triplets, Donald III, Jack and Yvonne.
“With his signature bow tie, huge coronary heart and tenacious spirit, Donald embodied the perfect of public service,” Governor Murphy stated in an announcement. “As a former union employee and toll collector, he deeply understood the struggles our working households face, and he fought valiantly to serve their wants. each single day.”
