Moving to Ohio from his native New York in 1833, he quickly established himself in law and business while becoming a local leader in Democratic politics.

He ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1880, but lost to Winfield Scott Hancock, who would go on to lose the general election to James A. Garfield.

[2] After graduation, Payne read law in the Canandaigua office of John C. Spencer, a Whig politician and future Secretary of War.

[2] While working there, Payne became good friends with future United States Senator and 1860 Democratic presidential candidate Stephen A. Douglas, who was studying law with another local attorney.

[4] Payne's law practice continued to be successful through the early 1840s, but after suffering from attacks of hemoptysis (bleeding in the lungs), he was forced to curtail his activities.

His skill as a parliamentarian led his party to nominate him for the United States Senate in 1851, but the election went to Whig candidate, Benjamin Wade, by a vote of 44–34.

[11] After the war, Payne continued his political activity, leading the Ohio delegation to the 1872 Democratic National Convention, where he supported the eventual nominee, Horace Greeley.

[7] In 1874, Payne ran for a seat in the United States House of Representatives from Ohio's 20th district, and was elected with a 2500-vote majority over the incumbent Republican, Richard C.

The previous Congress, controlled by Republicans, had passed the Specie Payment Resumption Act, which would return the United States to the gold standard by 1879.

[9] Payne drew up a compromise bill, in which the Resumption Act would be repealed and replaced with a gradual, partial return to gold-backed money.

[17] The results initially indicated a Democratic victory, but the electoral votes of several states were ardently disputed until mere days before the new president was to be inaugurated.

[17] Payne was named to the committee at Tilden's request, but the results went against the Democrats as Hayes was declared the winner of the disputed votes.

Tilden was ambiguous about his willingness to participate in another campaign, leading some delegates to defect to other candidates, while others stayed loyal to their old standard-bearer.

[21] Although Tilden ultimately declined to be nominated, Payne's chances were hindered when Ohio's delegation remained loyal to Senator Allen G.

[29] In the Senate, the most prominent fight was over the need for a strong protective tariff, which made foreign goods more expensive but encouraged domestic manufacturing.

[30] Payne supported a high tariff, but thought some small reductions would be prudent in order to reduce the federal government's surplus.

[30] He joined fellow Senate Democrats in rejecting a tariff bill proposed by Iowa Republican William B. Allison, which would have raised the rates even higher than Payne thought prudent.

[34] After amendments by the House, however, the bill returned to the Senate with more substantive prohibitions on the practices consumers and manufacturers found most egregious.

[35] Payne voted against the strengthened Interstate Commerce Act, which passed and was signed into law by President Grover Cleveland.

[36] In explaining his vote, Payne said that the law was impractical and unfairly advantaged other methods of shipping (such as boat transportation on the Great Lakes) over the railroads.