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MEET MELISSA Murray Bailey.

"Who?" you might ask.

Bailey, 36, is the city's lone Republican candidate for mayor. She's relatively new to Philadelphia, having moved here with her husband and daughter, now 4, about three years ago.

She's pretty much an outsider running for mayor in a politically insidery town - a city where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by a roughly 7-to-1 ratio.

If elected in November, Bailey would not only be the first Republican to be elected mayor in more than 60 years, she would be the first woman to hold the job - ever.

So Bailey, by nature, would have to be either incredibly optimistic or a glutton for punishment. "I'm kind of a glass-half-full kind of person," she acknowledged.

Bailey, a longtime Democrat who grew up in South Jersey, is the daughter of two public school teachers. Her dad was a leader of the local teachers union.

She graduated from the University of Maryland, majoring in biological engineering, and later got a job with Universum, a company that helps employers brand themselves and attract workers. Before moving here, she lived in Singapore, where she launched Universum's Asia headquarters.

She got the idea to run for mayor this past November and changed her voter registration from Democrat to Republican earlier this year. Daily News reporter Wendy Ruderman caught up with her this week in Society Hill, where she lives.

Read more:
The Interview: Melissa Murray Bailey, Philly's only Republican mayoral candidate