Donald Milford Payne, Jr.
Birth Place: Newark, NJ, United States
Residence: Newark, NJ
Gender: Male
Party: Democratic
State: New Jersey
Office: House
District: District 10
Degree: Attended
Donald Payne Jr. is a lifelong Newark, N.J., resident and son of the late Rep. Donald M. Payne Sr., who represented the 10th Congressional District from 1989 until he died of colon cancer in March 2012. The younger Payne attended Kean University.
He is the president of the Newark City Council and a freeholder-at-large in Essex County. He founded the Newark South Ward Junior Democrats as a teenager, and served as an adviser to the YMCA Youth in Government Program.
Payne's uncle, William Payne, is a former state assemblyman. Payne Sr. was the first black congressman from New Jersey.
Payne and his wife, Bea, have triplets.
Donald Payne Jr. is running to fill New Jersey's 10th Congressional District seat, left vacant by the death of his father, Donald M. Payne. In June 2012 he won the Democratic primary for a special election to finish out his father's term in Congress, and also won a six-person primary for the Democratic nomination in the district, which hasn't elected a Republican since the 1940s. The special election will be held concurrently with the November 2012 general election.
Payne said he ran because he knew best what his late father wanted for the people of the district.
Payne says he has focused as president of the Newark City Council on jobs, education, women's health, seniors, arts and the environment.
He takes credit for working with Newark-based Integrated Data Solutions to hire more Newark residents, and for bringing Panasonic's North American headquarters to the city.
Payne founded Embracing Arms, a program designed to prepare kids for leadership, and Above The Rim, an athletics and scholarship program. He worked with Essex County College and hotels to create a job training program for the hospitality industry.
Payne says he's been "a longtime champion of prenatal care" and worked with Planned Parenthood to provide women's health care.
Payne also serves on the Newark Watershed Board and worked with Greater Newark Conservancy. His website says he's worked to reduce Newark's carbon footprint by promoting energy efficiency and education.
Source: Associated Press
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