Melissa Murray Bailey

Bailey campaigning for mayor in 2015

Melissa Murray Bailey (born 1979) is an American business executive, businesswoman and politician. She was the Republican Party nominee for Mayor of Philadelphia, the fifth largest city in the United States, in the 2015 Philadelphia mayoral election.

Biography

Bailey was raised in South Jersey. [1] Her grandmother is from West Philadelphia, while her grandfather grew up in South Philadelphia.[2] Both of her parents are public school teachers, including her father, who was the lead negotiator for his teachers union.[1] She is one of four siblings.[2]

Bailey promoting reading in Chestnut Hill at the Harry Potter Read-a-thon

Bailey received her bachelor's degree in biological engineering from the University of Maryland and worked as a substitute teacher while in college.[1][2] She was eventually hired by Universum Global, a Swedish branding firm which also assists employers' efforts to hire workers.[1][3] Prior to moving to Philadelphia, Bailey ran CEB's Asia business, located in Singapore.[1] She resided in Singapore and Australia for nearly seven years before being hired by Universum and moving to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[1][2] Bailey and her husband moved to Philadelphia in 2012 and settled in the Society Hill neighborhood of Center City.[3] She is currently the President of Universum's Americas business.[2]

She and her husband, Sean Bailey, who works in the governmental tech department at Accenture, have one daughter, Cricket.[2][4]

Political career

Bailey, a longtime registered Democrat, switched her party affiliation to the Republican Party in early 2015.[1][2]

In 2015, Bailey, who had never run for public office before, filed her candidacy for Mayor of Philadelphia, becoming the only Republican to enter in the 2015 mayoral race.[3] She was unopposed in the Republican mayoral primary election, which was held on May 19, 2015.[3][5]

Melissa Murray Bailey faced Democrat Jim Kenney, a longtime member of the Philadelphia City Council, in the general election on November 3, 2015.[5] She lost getting 13 percent of the votes to her opponents 85 percent, the largest gap in ever in the city's mayoral elections where registered Republicans make up only 11% of Philadelphia voters.[6][7]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Rudeman, Wendy (March 30, 2015). "The Interview: Melissa Murray Bailey, Philly's only Republican mayoral candidate". Philadelphia Daily News. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "The Next Mayor 2015 series: Melissa Murray Bailey". Philly.com. 2015. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Dunn, Mike (March 11, 2015). "Political Unknown Becomes GOP's Only Candidate in Philadelphia Mayoral Race". KYW-TV. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
  4. ↑ Reyes, Juliana (November 2, 2015). "Mayoral hopeful Melissa Murray Bailey wants to attract tech giants to Philadelphia". Technically Philly. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
  5. 1 2 Hepp, Chris (May 20, 2015). "Landslide: Kenney romps in Philly mayor's race". Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
  6. ↑ http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20151106_Why_Melissa_Murray_Bailey_didn_t_clobber_Jim_Kenney.html?mobi=true
  7. ↑ Registered Dems still outnumber Republicans 7 to 1
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