Rep. Donald Payne Jr. has won the New Jersey Democratic primary to represent the state’s 10th Congressional district in the United States House of Representatives.
But, there’s one major problem—Payne Jr. died more than a month ago.
Payne, who represented the district for more than a decade, ran unopposed in the Democratic primary.
The beloved congressman died on April 24 from a heart attack. Because the filing deadline had passed by then, no one could replace him on the ballot.
A special primary election is schedule for July 16 and a special general election will be held on September 18 where the winner will serve the remainder of Payne Jr’s term in the 118th Congress.
The seat is a safe Democratic seat and Payne Jr. had won re-election several times with at least 77% of the vote.
Democratic committee members in the 10th District will meet to select a new candidate for the general election ballot in November. That person will face Republican Carmen Bucco, who also ran unopposed in the GOP primary.
