New Jer­sey House Demo­c­rat Don­ald Payne Jr. Dies At 65

Rep. Don­ald Payne Jr. (D‑NJ), a Newark main­stay who served in the seat once held by his father, has died at the age of 65, Gov­er­nor Phil Mur­phy con­firmed on Wednes­day.
“Tam­my and I are deeply sad­dened by the trag­ic pass­ing of our friend, and a stead­fast cham­pi­on for the peo­ple of New Jer­sey, Con­gress­man Don­ald Payne, Jr.,” Mur­phy said in a state­ment.
Mur­phy did not share a cause of death for Payne, how­ev­er, it was known that the six-term con­gress­man had been expe­ri­enc­ing health prob­lems. Payne suf­fered a “car­diac episode based on com­pli­ca­tions from his dia­betes” ear­li­er this month and remained at a hos­pi­tal, his office said in a state­ment on April 17.
“With his sign …