For the first time since he won the nomination to succeed his late father in Congress a decade ago, New Jersey Rep. Donald M. Payne Jr. is facing a competitive primary, prompting the five-term Democrat to step up his campaign efforts.
First elected in a 2012 special election in which he got 71 percent of the primary vote, Payne has never gotten less than 83 percent in a general election since then and has averaged 93 percent in primaries, including 100 percent when no one challenged him in 2016.
This year, however, he faces Imani Oakley, a political organizer and former Capitol Hill and New Jersey Legislature staffer who topped him in fundraising during last year’s third quarter, in the June 6 Democratic primary.
