Rep. Donald Payne Jr. died in April, but that didn't stop him from winning New Jersey's Democratic primary for his onetime House of Representatives seat Tuesday. Payne had been running for re-election unopposed when he died at age 65, and the filing deadline for the primary passed before his death, the New York Post reports. New Jersey's filing rules did not allow anyone to replace him in the primary after his death, so a special primary election, which the Washington Examiner reports will be competitive, is planned for July 16. Nearly a dozen Democrats have already said they will run, Fox News reports.
The winner of that contest will likely win the special general election in September in the deep-blue district, which includes Newark, and will finish Payne's term, which ends in January. Democrats also need to find someone to run in the regular general election in November for the term that starts in 2025. Payne was a "much-beloved congressman" who held his seat for more than a decade, per the Post. His father, Donald Payne Sr., was the state's first Black congressman and held the seat before his son; he served for decades until his death in 2012. (More Election 2024 stories.)
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