Melissa Brown

Melissa Brown is an ophthalmologist from Flourtown, Pennsylvania who is a member of the Republican Party. She was also a three-time candidate for the US House of Representatives.

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Personal

Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Melissa Brown attended Keuka College and graduated with a B.S. in Nursing in 1972. With a strong interest in education, she has been on the Board of Directors of Keuka since 1992. She subsequently received her Masters Degree in Nursing from Emory University and then taught on the faculty at the University of Pennsylvania.

She returned to Thomas Jefferson University where she earned her M.D. in 1982. After an internship at Chestnut Hill Hospital, she completed a residency in ophthalmology at Wills Eye Hospital. Brown obtained her MBA in Strategic Management from Saint Joseph's University's Haub School of Business in 1998. She is an adjunct Senior Fellow at the Leonard Davis Institute of Medical Economics at the University of Pennsylvania.

Political career

In 1998, Brown ran in the Republican primary against incumbent Rep. Jon D. Fox. She finished third in the four-way primary.^[1]

She considered a run in 2000, but withdrew in favor of State Sen. Stewart Greenleaf.

2002

In 2002, the party opened the door to her. She ran in the primary against Al Taubenberger, a resident of Northeast Philadelphia. Running with the support of both the Montgomery County and Philadelphia GOP committees, she won the nomination with 56% of the vote.

She ran a tough campaign against incumbent Rep. Joe Hoeffel, but was criticized for the tone of her campaign in Philadelphia. Brown attacked Hoeffel for his support of the Section 8 housing program at the Federal level. Many beneficiaries of the Section 8 program in Philadelphia are racial minorities and critics felt that her criticism was racially charged. However, Brown responded that many residents in the area did express concern that Section 8 residents were less than ideal neighbors.^[2] While the tactic helped her in Philadelphia, the choice to ignore her signature issue, health care, did not help her in Montgomery County. In the end, she lost both constituencies and the race 51%-47%.^[3]

2004

In 2004, Joe Hoeffel retired from Congress and the GOP felt an opportunity to win an open seat. However, an internal squabble inside the party created a three-way primary for the seat. State Rep. Ellen Bard was endorsed by the Montgomery County GOP while Brown was endorsed by the Philadelphia GOP. Al Taubenberger also entered the race again. Bard attacked Brown as a 'train wreck'^[4] after the divisive 2002 campaign. After a costly and brutal primary, Brown emerged as the nominee with 38% of the vote and a 3,200 vote victory. ^[5]

In the general election, Brown faced off against State Sen. Allyson Schwartz. Schwartz proved to be a champion fundraiser and her campaign operation proved to be much better organized. Brown had to donate significantly to her own campaign to counter Schwartz' advantage. This activated the 'Millionaire's Clause', allowing Schwartz to raise more money from her donors. The race was also very negative on both sides. Schwartz charged that Brown and her husband had committed insurance fraud at a doctor-owned HMO that they founded while Brown charged that Schwartz was a radical who was out of the mainstream of the district. In the end, the Brown Campaign failed to get on track and trailed badly throughout. Brown took 41% of the vote in the defeat, losing to Schwartz by 15%.^[6]

Post politics

Since her defeat, Brown has returned to her medical practice and lecture work.

See also

• Philadelphia City Council