Stonington ― Pawcatuck resident Laura Graham has announced her candidacy for first selectman.

Graham is seeking the Democratic Town Committee’s nomination, after filing State Elections Enforcement Commission paperwork with the Town Clerk on April 4.

"Residents know I have been involved in influencing positive outcomes at town meetings, so they reach out to work together and stay in touch. We all love Stonington. This large bi-partisan network trusts that we will face our challenges together,” she said in a campaign announcement on Monday.

When reached by phone Monday, she said she is still developing a campaign platform but discussed some of what she is interested in achieving if elected.

From Old Mystic to the North Main Street area to her current home in the Moss Farm section of Pawcatuck, the 1985 graduate of Stonington High School has lived throughout the town, which is the basis for what she is calling her “Stonington River to River” campaign.

She met her husband while living in Italy after her graduation from the Rhode Island School of Design. The couple raised their two children in Rome before moving to Pawcatuck in 2013 where she founded an international sales and distribution management company, Drink with Food.

If elected, Graham would create what she calls “extreme transparency” between residents and Town Hall and said she would talk with residents and business owners to learn what their concerns and needs are. She intends to begin that engagement immediately as a means to developing her platform.

“Certainly, we should get input from the community before we go spending their money,” she said.

She would like to see current infrastructure projects the town is working on, such as the Pawcatuck sidewalk project, completed before new projects are proposed and undertaken.

“I’m a very pragmatic person. I don’t like the idea of just tossing out ideas to people and getting them all excited, if you don’t have any money for it. We need to find the grants; we need to budget the money,” she said.

One new project she would like to tackle is a pedestrian foot bridge across Anguilla Brook on Route 1. She noted the state-owned bridge has very little room for pedestrian and bicycle access, and many residents of the neighborhood to the east of the bridge, known locally as the Birdland neighborhood, have expressed a desire for a footbridge to improve safety.

Graham said her candidacy is exciting, but a bit daunting, and she is grateful for the many friends she has in the community with broad experience and knowledge.

“I feel really fortunate to have people, who are really generous with their time, mentoring me. I would never be able to even entertain the thought of doing this job without knowing that I have a big, solid team of people supporting me,” she said.

“When she announced she was interested in the nomination, I was quite happy to hear that, because we do need someone with her values and her abilities to research things to step up and be our first selectman,” said former Democratic first selectman Don Maranell.

Bryan Bentz, owner of Bentz Engineering and Board of Finance member, announced his candidacy for first selectman in early March and is seeking the Republican nomination.

Late last month, First Selectman Danielle Chesebrough, an unaffiliated voter, said she had not yet decided if she will run for reelection.