Donald Milford Payne (July 16, 1934 – March 6, 2012) was an American politician who was the

U.S. representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

for from 1989 until his death. He was a member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

. The district encompassed most of the city of

Newark Newark most commonly refers to: * Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States * Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area Newark may also refer to: Places Canada * Niagara-on-the ...

, parts of

Jersey City Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.Elizabeth, and some suburban communities in

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

and

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

counties. He was the first African American to represent New Jersey in Congress.

Early life, education, and early political career

Payne was born in Newark and was a 1952 graduate of

Barringer High School Barringer Academy of the Arts & Humanities (formerly Barringer High School and Newark High School), is a four-year comprehensive public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades in Newark, in Essex County, New Jersey, United ...

. He did his undergraduate studies at

Seton Hall University Seton Hall University (SHU) is a private Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Seton Hall is the oldest diocesan un ...

, graduating in 1957. After graduating he pursued post-graduate studies in

Springfield College Springfield College is a private college in Springfield, Massachusetts. It confers undergraduate and graduate degrees. It is known as the birthplace of basketball because the sport was invented there in 1891 by Canadian-American instructor J ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. Before being elected to Congress in 1988, Payne was an executive at

Prudential Financial Prudential Financial, Inc. is an American Fortune Global 500 and Fortune 500 company whose subsidiaries provide insurance, retirement planning, investment management, and other products and services to both retail and institutional customers t ...

, Vice President of Urban Data Systems Inc., and a teacher in the Newark Public Schools. In 1970, Payne became the first black president of the National Council of

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...

s. From 1973 to 1981 he was Chairman of the World Y.M.C.A. Refugee and Rehabilitation Committee. Payne's political career began in 1972, when he was elected to the Essex County Board of Chosen Freeholders, serving three terms. In 1978, Payne ran against, and came in third to, Peter Shapiro in the June primary selecting the Democratic candidate for the first Essex County Executive, with Sheriff John F. Cryan coming in second. In 1982, he was elected to the Newark Municipal Council and served three terms, resigning in 1988 shortly after his election to Congress.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

Payne ran against U.S. Congressman

Peter Rodino Peter Wallace Rodino Jr. (June 7, 1909 – May 7, 2005) was an American Democratic politician. He represented parts of Newark, New Jersey and surrounding Essex and Hudson counties for twenty terms from 1949 to 1989. He was the longest-serving ...

in the 1980 and 1986 Democratic primaries but lost both times. Rodino retired in 1988 after 40 years in Congress. Payne defeated fellow Municipal Councilman Ralph T. Grant Jr. in the Democratic primary, the real contest in this heavily Democratic, black-majority district. He was re-elected eleven times with no substantive opposition, never dropping below 75% of the vote. 1996 Results * Don Payne (D) 84.16% * Vanessa Williams (R) 14.62% * Harley Tyler (NL) 0.79% * Toni Jackson (SWP) 0.43% 1998 Results * Don Payne (D) 84% * William Wnuck (R) 11% 2000 Results * Donald M. Payne (D) 87.5% * Dirk B. Weber (R) 12.1% * Maurice Williams (I) 0.4% In the 2002 general election, Payne was reelected with 84.5% of the vote, receiving a higher margin of the vote than in any other New Jersey Congressional race run that year. In 2004, the Republicans didn't even put up a candidate, and Payne was reelected with 97% of the vote, against

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...

candidate Toy-Ling Washington and Socialist Workers Party candidate Sara J. Lobman. In 2006, Payne was unopposed in the primary and general elections. In 2008, he won 99% of the vote against Green candidate Michael Taber. In 2010, Payne defeated little-known candidate Micheal Alonso.

U.S. House of Representatives

General elections

Primary elections

Tenure

Payne's voting record was considered to have been the most consistently progressive of all New Jersey Congressmen at the time of his death. He was pro-choice and against the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

. He was a member, and former chair, of the Congressional Black Caucus and was chosen in 2002 by House Minority Leader

Nancy Pelosi Nancy Patricia Pelosi (; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who has served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives since 2019 and previously from 2007 to 2011. She has represented in the United States House of ...

to serve on the Democratic Steering Committee. The Democratic Steering Committee chooses which House Committees each individual Democratic Congressmen will serve on and also plays a crucial part in shaping the Democratic legislative agenda. In international issues, Payne was active on issues relating to Africa, particularly regarding the

conflict Conflict may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Conflict'' (1921 film), an American silent film directed by Stuart Paton * ''Conflict'' (1936 film), an American boxing film starring John Wayne * ''Conflict'' (1937 film) ...

in the

Darfur Darfur ( ; ar, دار فور, Dār Fūr, lit=Realm of the Fur) is a region of western Sudan. ''Dār'' is an Arabic word meaning "home f – the region was named Dardaju ( ar, دار داجو, Dār Dājū, links=no) while ruled by the Daju, ...

region of

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

and the Western Sahara conflict. As a leading advocate of education, Payne was instrumental in the passage of key legislation, including the Goals 2000 initiative to improve elementary and secondary schools; the School-to-Work Opportunities Act; the National Service Act, establishment of the National Literacy Institute; and funding for Head Start, Pell Grants, Summer Jobs and Student Loans. Payne was also a member of the

U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs The United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs, also known as the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is a standing committee of the U.S. House of Representatives with jurisdiction over bills and investigations concerning the foreign affairs ...

, where he served as

Chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

of the United States House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health and as a member of the Subcommittee on the

United States House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere The House Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Civilian Security, Migration and International Economic Policy is a subcommittee within the House Foreign Affairs Committee. It was known in previous Congresses as the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisp ...

and the United States House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight. Congressman Payne was at the forefront of efforts to restore democracy and human rights in nations throughout the globe. He was one of five members of Congress chosen to accompany President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

and

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

on their historic six-nation tour of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. He also headed a Presidential mission to war-torn Rwanda to help find solutions to that country's political and humanitarian crises. In addition, he was recognized as having the most supportive record in Congress on issues involving the Northern Ireland peace process. On June 22, 2001 Payne was arrested after protesting against the

ese government at its embassy in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

He was a supporter of and endorsed the Genocide Intervention Network. In 2003, President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

appointed Payne as one of two members of Congress to serve as a Congressional delegate to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

and reappointed him in 2005 to an unprecedented second term. In this role, he met with the U.N. Secretary General, the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. and regularly attended sessions of the

U.N. General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...

and other high level meetings. He was one of the 31 House Democrats who voted to ''not'' count the 20 electoral votes from

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

in the 2004 presidential election. President

won Ohio by 118,457 votes. Without Ohio's electoral votes, the election would have been decided by the U.S. House of Representatives, with each state having one vote in accordance with the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Payne received an "A" on the liberal

Drum Major Institute The Drum Major Institute for Public Policy (DMI) is a non-profit American progressive think tank and community action group. The group was founded in 1961 in the midst of the Civil Rights Movement. It later became defunct until it was relaunched ...

's 2005 Congressional Scorecard on middle-class issues. Payne served on the board of directors of the National Endowment for Democracy,

TransAfrica TransAfrica (formerly ''TransAfrica Forum'') is an advocacy organization in Washington, D.C. that seeks to influence the foreign policy of the United States concerning African and Caribbean countries and all African diaspora groups. They are a res ...

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...

Global Education Fund, the

Congressional Award Foundation The Congressional Award is an award for young Americans, established by the United States Congress in 1979 to "recognize initiative, service, and achievement in young people." It is nonpartisan, voluntary, non-competitive, and open to all youth ag ...

, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Newark, the Newark Day Center, the Fighting Back Initiative and the Newark

. He received numerous awards and honors from national, international and community-based organizations, including the Visionaries Award bestowed by the Africa Society and the prestigious Democracy Service Medal, which was previously awarded to Lech Walesa, the former Polish President and founder of the Solidarity movement, by the National Endowment for Democracy. Payne supported Senator

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

in his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination after originally supporting

. ;Attack in Somalia On April 13, 2009, Payne's plane was departing from

Mogadishu Mogadishu (, also ; so, Muqdisho or ; ar, مقديشو ; it, Mogadiscio ), locally known as Xamar or Hamar, is the capital and List of cities in Somalia by population, most populous city of Somalia. The city has served as an important port ...

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

, when Somali fighters fired mortars at the airport. Payne was unhurt, as his plane was already bound for

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

. The attack came just one day after Captain Richard Phillips was rescued from Somali pirates after their failed hijacking of the MV ''Maersk Alabama''. Payne stated that his party on the plane did not know the airport was attacked until after they arrived in Kenya

Committee assignments

* Committee on Education and the Workforce ** Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education ** Subcommittee on Workforce Protections * Committee on Foreign Affairs ** Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health ** Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere

Caucus memberships

*Congressional Black Caucus *Congressional Human Rights Caucus * International Conservation Caucus *Silk Road Congressional Caucus *Congressional Arts Caucus

Personal life

Several other of Payne's family members have held or currently hold public office. His son, Donald M. Payne Jr., was president of the Municipal Council of Newark and an Essex County Freeholder-At-Large, and was elected to fill his father's seat in Congress on November 6, 2012. His brother, William D. Payne, served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 1998 to 2008. His nephew,

Craig A. Stanley Craig A. Stanley (born November 20, 1955) is an American Democratic Party politician, who served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 1996 to 2008, where represented the 28th Legislative District. He was succeeded by Ralph R. Caputo and Cleo ...

, served in the General Assembly from 1996 to 2008.

Death

Payne announced in a statement on February 10, 2012 that he was undergoing treatment for

colon cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel mo ...

. On March 2, 2012, it was reported that Payne had been flown from a hospital in Washington D.C. back to New Jersey via a medical transport plane, because he was "gravely ill". Payne died four days later, aged 77. Payne was succeeded in Congress by his son,

Donald Payne Jr. Donald Milford Payne Jr. (born December 17, 1958) is an American politician who has been the U.S. representative for since 2012. A member of the Democratic Party, Payne served as president of the Newark city council from 2010 to 2012. Follow ...

References

External links

Congressman Donald M. Payne
''official U.S. House website'' * *
Profile
at SourceWatch
Milestones In the History of African Americans and the YMCA
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Payne, Donald M. 1934 births 2012 deaths 20th-century American politicians 21st-century American politicians African-American members of the United States House of Representatives African-American schoolteachers Baptists from New Jersey Barringer High School alumni Candidates in the 1980 United States elections Candidates in the 1986 United States elections County commissioners in New Jersey Deaths from cancer in New Jersey Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New Jersey Deaths from colorectal cancer Members of the Municipal Council of Newark African-American city council members in New Jersey Prudential Financial people Seton Hall University alumni Springfield College (Massachusetts) alumni Schoolteachers from New Jersey YMCA leaders 20th-century Baptists 20th-century African-American politicians 21st-century African-American politicians

Early life, education, and early political career

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

U.S. House of Representatives

General elections

Primary elections

Tenure

Committee assignments

Caucus memberships

Personal life

Death

See also

References

External links