WESTPORT — Amy Wistreich, a Planning and Zoning Commission member, has been tapped by Democratic leaders as their favored running mate for Kevin Christie as the party tries to gain control of the Board of Selectmen in November for the first time in 12 years.

Wistreich has the backing to run for the “second” selectman’s seat from the Nominating Committee of the Democratic Town Committee, party leaders said in a statement early Thursday.

The party’s minority seat on the board is currently held by Selectwoman Candice Savin, the 2021 running mate of state Rep. Jonathan Steinberg, who narrowly lost the race for first selectman to Republican Jennifer Tooker.

“Kevin and Amy are enormously qualified leaders and public servants, and they are keenly attuned to Westport’s needs,” Michelle Mechanic, the Democratic Town Committee chair, said in a statement. “Their complimentary backgrounds, combined with their commitment to community, is exactly what Westport needs to build tomorrow together.”

Christie, a Board of Education member, so far is the lone announced candidate for Democrats’ first selectman nomination this year. He was one of four candidates interested in running for first selectman interviewed earlier this year by Democrats’ Nominating Committee, and has since emerged as party leaders’ favored candidate. 

However, the party’s formal endorsements for the Nov. 4 election will not be granted for Christie and Wistreich — or any other contender who may declare their candidacy — until its nomination session in July.

The name of any registered Democrat interested in running for the Board of Selectmen or any other office, whose nomination is seconded at the July convention, will be put up for a vote.

The winner will carry Democrats’ endorsement into the fall campaign, unless overturned by a challenger in a Sept. 9 primary.

Wistreich, who won unanimous support from the Nominating Committee to run for the selectman’s seat, was appointed to the Planning and Zoning Commission in 2023. Previously, she had won a seat on the Zoning Board of Appeals in 2021 after being appointed to that panel in 2019.

She has a degree in environmental design and has professionally worked in different aspects of the construction field, including architecture, engineering, design, project management and insurance, according to Democrats’ announcement.

Wistreich has also served on boards of directors and building/architecture committees. Because of her nonprofit work, she was selected by the Wexner Foundation to complete a two-year Wexner Heritage Fellowship for rising community leaders, party leaders said in their statement.