“We have chemical installations. We have the airport. We have the port. It’s a very attractive target,” Payne said of his district, which is home to busy terminals in the Port of New York and New Jersey and Newark Penn Station, the state’s busiest rail station.

His father died of colon cancer, and the younger Payne became a strong advocate of early screening and education efforts as a founding member of the Congressional Colorectal Cancer Caucus.

Payne’s mother died when he was 4, which made his father a particularly big presence in his life. Politics was always a family concern. One of his early childhood memories is being in a van, with its sound system blaring a city council campaign announcement for his uncle, William Payne — who would later serve in the state Assembly.

He was a teenager when his father started out in county government. Donald Payne Jr. began his own political activity as a student, when he helped form the Newark South Ward Junior Democrats.

Payne left Kean College after a few years and worked at Urban Data Systems, a computer forms company founded by his uncle William. He later held jobs as a toll collector and a student busing coordinator for Essex County. In late 2005, he was elected to the Essex County Board of Freeholders (now called county commissioners), and half a year later he was also elected to the Newark city council. He became the city council president in 2010.

Shortly after his father’s 2012 death, Payne announced his intention to run for his seat. He won a special election to complete the final weeks of his father’s term in the 112th Congress and easily won reelection since.

Statements by colleagues from New Jersey and beyond all portrayed Payne as a friend who would be missed.

“I cannot think of any member at any time who embodied the compassion, kindness, honesty, big heart and humble demeanor central to public service more than Donald,” said Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., D-N.J. “He led the way for rail transportation and men’s health in the Capitol and was a beloved member of our state’s congressional delegation.”

Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., said, “Don was just a great guy, and everyone loved him.”

Homeland Security ranking member Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., called Payne “a thoughtful legislator, a dear friend, and a man of such a kind and affable nature that he was well-liked and respected by Members on both sides of the aisle even during the Committee’s most divisive moments.”

Payne was running unopposed in the June 4 primary and ballots bearing his name were due to begin going out in the mail April 20, according to a timeline from the New Jersey Division of Elections.

Murphy could call for a special primary to replace him, which under state law would have to be held 70 to 76 days after he issues the writ. That would be followed by a special election 60 to 64 days later to fill the remainder of Payne’s current term.

If the governor does not call a special election, Democratic county committee members from the counties in Payne’s district could select someone to replace him on the November ballot. That election would only be for a full term starting Jan. 3, 2025.

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(Herb Jackson contributed to this report.)

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