REP. DONALD M. PAYNE, JR. (D-NJ)
Donald Milford Payne Jr. (born December 17, 1958) is an American politician who has been the U.S. Representative for New Jersey’s 10th congressional district since 2012. Payne, a member of the Democratic Party, served as president of the Newark, New Jersey city council from 2010 to 2012.
Following the death of his father, U.S. Representative Donald M. Payne, on March 6, 2012, Payne ran in the primary to succeed him in Congress. His father had first been elected in 1988 and was re-elected eleven times without significant opposition.[ He won the Democratic primary election on June 5, 2012, which is tantamount to election in the heavily Democratic district, and won the general election on November 6, 2012.
Payne was born and raised with his two sisters Wanda and Nicole in Newark, New Jersey. His father Donald M. Payne, served in the United States House of Representatives from 1989 until his death in 2012. He was the first African-American to represent the state of New Jersey in Congress. His mother Hazel Payne (née Johnson), died in 1963 when Payne was 5 years old. As a teenager, Payne was the founder and first president of the Newark South Ward Junior Democrats. He went on to study graphic arts at Kean University. He was an adviser at the YMCA Youth in Government Program.
He worked for the New Jersey Highway Authority from 1991 until he joined the Essex County Educational Services Commission in 1996, where he worked as the Supervisor of Student Transportation.
