Rep. Donald Payne Jr. (D-Newark) has won the Democratic primary for New Jersey’s 10th congressional district unopposed, despite tragically dying in office more than a month ago.
Payne died on April 24 following a heart attack – well after the filing deadline for the primary, and too late for a vacancy committee to meet to replace him on the primary ballot. The procedure in such cases is to hold a primary with the deceased candidate still on the ballot, and if they win, the local county parties in that district will meet after the election to choose a replacement nominee.
Once Payne’s victory is certified on June 17, that’s exactly what will happen. The Essex, Union, and Hudson County Democratic parties will have to schedule a special election convention sometime before August 29, at which they’ll choose who will go on the November ballot in place of Payne.
To be clear, that’s a separate process from the currently ongoing special election to fill the remainder of Payne’s term. Eleven Democrats will be competing in the July 16 special primary, and the winner will go on to compete in a September 18 general election, which should allow them to serve out the last three months of Payne’s term.
10th district Democratic leaders may choose to schedule their convention to choose a new general election nominee after the July 16 primary is completed – but they’re not required to select the winner of that primary as their nominee. In other words, it’s perfectly possible that one person will serve in Congress for three months, only to be replaced by someone else come January 2025.
The choice of most top party leaders is Newark Council President LaMonica McIver; also running are former East Orange Councilwoman Brittany Claybrooks, Hudson County Commissioner Jerry Walker (D-Jersey City), state economic development official Darryl Godfrey, former Payne staffer Shana Melius, Linden Mayor Derek Armstead, teacher John Flora, former Newark mayoral candidate Sheila Montague, activist Debra Salters, local Democratic district leader Alberta Gordon, and law professor Eugene Mazo.
On the Republican side, the nominee in both the regular and special elections is Carmen Bucco; he’s virtually assured of a loss in a majority-Black district that ranks as one of the bluest districts in the entire country.