Elections

In 1997, he ran for 29th legislative district. He ranked second in the Democratic primary with 24% and qualified for the general election.^[4] He won the seat in the general election with 43% of the vote.^[5] He won re-election in 1999 (42%),^[6] 2001 (45%),^[7] 2003 (43%),^[8] and 2005 (45%).^[9]

Tenure

Among legislation successfully sponsored and cosponsored by Assemblyman Payne are legislation allocating funds which enabled the Newark Boys Chorus to perform in the Union of South Africa, a bill providing $750,000 to establish school-based mentoring programs for at-risk students in Abbott Districts. Assemblyman Payne's Amistad legislation established the Amistad Commission to incorporate African American history and contributions into the K-12 curriculum in New Jersey schools and, the practice of racial profiling by law enforcement and all civil service employees has been criminalized in New Jersey by landmark legislation of which Assemblyman Payne was the lead sponsor.

Committee assignments

Payne served in the Assembly on the Regulatory Oversight Committee (Chair), the Budget Committee (vice chair), and the Human Services Committee.^[1]

Campaigning for others

Payne has been a campaign manager for his brother since 1988. In 1995, he was a campaign manager for Assemblyman Craig A. Stanley. After Stanley was elected, he was chief of staff to him from 1996 to 1997. He has also been the Essex County deputy chief of staff since 2003.^[1]

Commissions

Assemblyman Payne has served on the New Jersey Criminal Disposition Commission since 2004. Since 2003, he has been the president of the board of trustees of the Chad Independent School.

Payne has served on the New Jersey Joint Committee on Mentoring since 1999. He served on the New Jersey Tourism Advisory Council in 1998, on the New Jersey Congressional Award Council in 1995 and on the New Jersey Council on Adult Literacy in 1992. He served as chair of the Newark Housing Authority from 1986–1989 and was vice-chair of the Essex County Improvement Authority from 1980-1986.^[1]

1994 Newark mayoral election

Payne decided to challenge incumbent Mayor of Newark Sharpe James in the May 1994 election. The mayor won re-election to a third term defeating Payne 64%-20%.^[10][11]

2007 New Jersey Senate race

In the November 2007 general election, Teresa Ruiz and her Assembly running mates Alberto Coutinho and L. Grace Spencer won the three seats from the district. Ruiz won with 57.8% of the vote, defeating five other candidates, including Democrats-running-as independents Luis Quintana (with 15.9%) in second place and Payne who came in third with 15.7%, earning .^[12][13]