Melissa Murray Bailey
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. If elected, Bailey would have been be Philadelphia's first Republican mayor in more than 60 years, as well as the city's first female mayor.[1] She was also the youngest candidate in the 2015 Philadelphia mayoral election.[1]
Biography
Bailey was raised in South Jersey.[1] Her grandmother was 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 also the head of his district teachers union.[1] She is one of four siblings.[2]
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] Bailey oversaw the establishment and launch of Universum's Asia headquarters, located in Singapore.[1] She resided in Singapore and Australia for nearly seven years before transferring to Universum's offices in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[1][2] Bailey and her husband moved to Philadelphia in approximately 2012 or 2013 and settled in the Society Hill neighborhood of Center City.[3] She is currently the President of Universum's U.S. division, Universum Americas, based in Philadelphia, as of 2015.[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, incumbent Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter was term-limited and could not seek re-election after two-terms in office.[1] 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, in which she was defeated.[5]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rudeman, Wendy (March 30, 2015). "The Interview: Melissa Murray Bailey, Philly's only Republican mayoral candidate". Philadelphia Daily News. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
- ^ a b c d e f g "The Next Mayor 2015 series: Melissa Murray Bailey". Philly.com. 2015. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
- ^ a b c d Dunn, Mike (March 11, 2015). "Political Unknown Becomes GOP's Only Candidate in Philadelphia Mayoral Race". KYW-TV. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
- ^ Reyes, Juliana (November 2, 2015). "Mayoral hopeful Melissa Murray Bailey wants to attract tech giants to Philadelphia". Technically Philly. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
- ^ a b Hepp, Chris (May 20, 2015). "Landslide: Kenney romps in Philly mayor's race". Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 2015-11-02.