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Donald Milford (Don) Payne (b. July 16 1934, Newark, New Jersey) is an American Democratic Party politician from the state of New Jersey.

He represents the state's 10th Congressional district ([1]) in the U.S. House of Representatives, which emcompasses most of the city of Newark, parts of Jersey City and Elizabeth, and some suburban towns in Essex and Union counties.

Payne was born in Newark, New Jersey and attended Barringer High School (grad. 1952). He did his undergraduate studies at Seton Hall University. After graduating he pursued post-graduate studies in Springfield College in Massachusetts. Before being elected to Congress in 1988, Payne served in the Newark Municipal Council, was on the Essex County Board of Chosen Freeholders, was an executive at Prudential Financial, was Vice President of Urban Data Systems Inc., and was a teacher in the Newark Public Schools.

Payne ran against Congressman Peter Rodino in the 1980 and 1986 Democratic primaries but lost both times. Rodino retired in 1988, and Payne easily won his seat in the House of Representatives to become New Jersey's first and currently only African American member of Congress.

Since his election to Congress, he has won all nine successive elections without much challenge. In 2002, Payne ran against no Republican opponent gaining 84.5% of the vote, winning the highest margin of the vote than in any other New Jersey Congressional race. In the 2004 Congressional race the Republicans again had no candidate on the ballot and Payne easily won, with 97% of the vote, against Green Party candidate ([2]) Toy-Ling Washington and Socialist Workers Party candidate Sara J. Lobman.

Payne's voting record is considered to be the most consistently liberal of all New Jersey Congressmen. He is pro-choice and against the death penalty. He is a member, and former chair, of the Congressional Black Caucus and was chosen in 2002 by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi 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 has been active in issues relating to Africa, particularly that of the current conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan.

On June 22 2001 Payne was arrested after protesting against the Sudanese government at Sudan's Embassy in Washington, D.C. (see [3]). He is a supporter and has endorsed the Genocide Intervention Network.

Payne received an "A" on the liberal Drum Major Institute's 2005 Congressional Scorecard on middle-class issues (see [4])

Donald Payne's brother, William D. Payne, serves in the New Jersey General Assembly representing the 29th legislative district of New Jersey, his nephew, Craig A. Stanley, serves in the General Assembly representing the 28th legislative district, and his son, Donald M. Payne, Jr., serves as a councilman in the Newark New Jersey City Council.

Committee assignments

• U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce
  • U.S House Subcommittee on Employer-Employee Relations
  • U.S House Subcommittee on 21st Century Competitiveness
• U.S. House Committee on International Relations
  • U.S House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations (Ranking minority member)
  • U.S House Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere

External links

• Official House Website
• Donald Milford Payne Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Open Secrets: Donald Payne 2005-06 Campaign Contributions
• Tenth Congressional District of New Jersey Profile Published by the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University
• [http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/members/p000149/ Voting record maintained by the Washington Post]

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