Politics have gotten a bit weird lately.
Rep. Donald Payne Jr. of New Jersey won the Democratic primary election in the state’s 10th Congressional District on Tuesday, more than a month after he died from a heart attack.
Because the filing deadline to run in the primary had already passed by the time of his death, his name still appeared on the ballot in the June 4 election.
Granted, he was something of a celebrity, as the son of the first Black American elected to Congress from New Jersey — Donald Payne Sr.
Also, Rep. Payne was running for reelection unopposed in the deeply Democratic district.
I imagine the same kind of thing could happen to a Republican these days, if they had accidentally died. Or if they had, for example, been convicted of a felony. Or even, 34 felonies.
In fact, presidential candidate Donald Trump did win New Jersey’s Republican primary in June 4, a week after 12 jurors found him guilty of 34 counts of fraud. Which makes him a convicted felon. But as luck would have it, the deadline for the ballot had already passed by the time of his conviction.
Also, Mr. Trump was running unopposed, just like Rep. Payne. But he was still alive.
The great advantage to being convicted of 34 felonies, instead of dying of a heart attack: you can schedule a press conference after your conviction. Also, you can still actually get elected.
One of the (often tedious) requirements for journalists — especially, humor columnists — is attendance at various press conferences given by politicians who have been convicted of felonies. Or you can watch the press conference online the following day, if that’s more convenient.
At his post-conviction press conference, our former president reminded us that, while Manhattan prosecutors have been focusing on him, New York City has been experiencing record-high violent crime.
“You have violent crime all over this city at levels that nobody’s ever seen before.” Murder. Rape. Robberies.
I’m not sure why Mr. Trump would say that. I understand he has been going through some stressful experiences and may be — as a result — a little off his game. But as most people know, violent crime in New York City today is not even close to record levels.
New York City recorded 391 murders in 2023, considerably fewer than the 2,262 recorded in 1990. 1,455 rapes were reported in 2023, down from 3,126 in 1990.
And perhaps most striking: New York City had 16,910 robberies in 2023, down from 100,280 in 1990.
With hardly anyone committing violent crimes these days, we can probably understand why prosecutors are looking for cases to keep their staff busy. There’s nothing worse than an idle prosecutor with time on his hands. And Mr. Trump’s ‘hush money’ trial was apparently an easy one to win, in a blue state like New York.
Luckily, a felony conviction — or 34 — means almost nothing, when you’re running for a political office. Voters these days expect you to be dishonest, and at least borderline criminal.
They don’t even care if you’ve died already.
Underrated writer Louis Cannon grew up in the vast American West, although his ex-wife, given the slightest opportunity, will deny that he ever grew up at all.