WASHINGTON — Rep. Donald M. Payne Jr., a former Newark, N. J., town council chairman who followed his trailblazing parents to Congress, has died at age 65, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy announced Wednesday.
” With his name bow, great spirit and tough nature, Donald embodied the very best of people service”, Murphy said in a statement. He “deeply understood the problems our working households face,” he said as a former union contractor and burden collection.
Payne was taken to the hospital in early April after what his office called a” respiratory season” linked to insulin.
First, his office issued a declaration that Payne’s “prognosis is fine and he is expected to make a complete treatment”. However, his department issued a fresh declaration asking for the government’s prayer following an April 17 record in the New Jersey Globe that Payne’s health issue was more serious.
Payne, a Democrat, represented New Jersey’s 10th District since he won a 2012 special election to achieve his soon father, who had been New Jersey’s first Black member of Congress.
The Transportation and Maritime Security Subcommittee and the Emergency Management and Technology Subcommittee of the Homeland Security Committee were both led by the younger Payne. He also served as the ranking Democrat and former president of the Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Substances Subcommittee. He was even a part of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
Former Rep. Albio Sires, a Democrat who had previously served with Payne’s papa in Congress and his brother in the state government, said,” He was a pretty caring guy. ” Caring seems to be a component of that family’s Rna.”
Payne loved basketball, particularly the Seton Hall University Pirates, said Sires. He also was committed to concerns essential to his district, including housing, health care and travel. ires claimed they both worked to get money to replace the NJ Transit passenger trains and the Northeast Corridor over the Hackensack River west of Newark, which is connected by the Portal North Bridge.
When the gate was opened, the paths did n’t always line up when they closed, according to Sires, who explained how they had to use a sledge hammer to do so, they had to use a sledge hammer to do so. ” That got women’s interest”.
Payne’s work on the Travel board frequently clashed with his work on the Homeland Security Committee, where he monitored the security of a span of the New Jersey Turnpike close to Newark Liberty International Airport, which is frequently referred to as the” two most dangerous kilometers” in America.
” We have molecular setups. We have the aircraft. We have the dock. It’s a very interesting specific”, Payne said of his city, which is home to occupied stations in the Port of New York and New Jersey and Newark Penn Station, the country’s busiest road place.
As a founding member of the Congressional Colorectal Cancer Caucus, Payne became a strong supporter of early screening and education efforts after his father passed away from colon cancer.
Payne’s father became a significant figure in his life when his mother passed away when he was 4 years old. Politics was always a family concern. One of his early childhood memories is being in a van with its sound system playing a campaign announcement for his uncle, William Payne, who would later serve in the state Assembly.
When his father started working in county government, he was a teenager. As a student, Donald Payne Jr. helped found the Newark South Ward Junior Democrats, which he helped found.
Payne left Kean College after a short while and started working for Urban Data Systems, an uncle William’s company for computer forms. Later, he worked for Essex County as a toll collector and a student busing coordinator. He was elected to the Essex County Board of Freeholders ( now known as county commissioners ) in late 2005, and he was also elected to the Newark City Council a year later. In 2010, he assumed the presidency of the city council.
Shortly after his father’s 2012 death, Payne announced his intention to run for his seat. He easily won reelection since winning a special election to finish his father’s term in the 112th Congress.
Herb Jackson contributed to this report.
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