Though on enthusiasm and campaign presence both campaigns seemed even, at the end of the day Newark Council President Donald Payne Jr. won the special election to complete the term of his late father the Congressman Donald Payne, taking 71% of the vote against Newark Councilman Ron Rice's 25%. Irvington Mayor Wayne Smith got 5%. Payne won the Democratic primary (60%), also contested by Rice  (19%), State Senator Nia Gill (17%), and Smith (2%). Two other candidates, Dennis Flynn who ran on an "Occupy Congress" line and Carolyn Wright, a telecomm executive, received less than a thousand votes each.