Weeks after voters sent him back to the Boston City Council for a two-year term, Josh Zakim is gearing up for a 2018 campaign against Bill Galvin, the longtime Massachusetts secretary of state and a fellow Democrat.

Galvin, a powerful figure inside the State House, was first elected to the statewide job in 1994. He plans to run for a seventh term, he recently told the State House News Service, an independent wire covering Beacon Hill.

As secretary of state, Galvin wears multiple hats: He's the state's overseer of elections, public records, lobbyists, a corporations repository, and the Massachusetts Archives. He's also the chief securities regulator, the state liaison with the US Census Bureau and the chairman of the Massachusetts Historical Commission.

A Brighton resident, Galvin won re-election in 2014 with 67 percent of the vote. He didn't face a challenger in the Democratic primary, and went on to beat Republican David D'Arcangelo, who now works for Gov. Charlie Baker as director of the Massachusetts on Disability, in the general election.

"Last time I was the state's top vote getter in both the primary and the [general] election," Galvin, 67, said. "I'm proud of my record, I intend to run on my record."

In 2014, Galvin pulled in 1.39 million votes, receiving more votes than US Sen. Ed Markey, Gov. Baker, Attorney General Maura Healey and other candidates on the statewide ballot.

But Zakim, 33, says he's running for the secretary of state's office in order to expand voting rights and bring additional transparency to state government.

"I think we need some new ideas and new leadership in that office to get it done," Zakim told MassLive.

On the City Council, Zakim represents Back Bay, Beacon Hill, Mission Hill, Fenway, Kenmore Square and the West End. He lives in downtown Boston with his wife, Grace Sullivan Zakim.

His late father, Lenny, worked as the head of the Anti-Defamation League in New England, and state officials later named the Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge, next to TD Garden, in his honor.

Josh Zakim, first elected to the Boston City Council in 2013, chairs its Committee on Housing and Community Development and the Special Committee on Civil Rights.

"I do find it interesting that somebody who gets elected in one month, at the same time, before even taking the oath of office, is running for another office," Galvin told MassLive.

Zakim gets sworn in for another term in January 2018.

"He told people in that district he's running for re-election to a two year term," Galvin said. "But that was earlier this month....I just find it curious."

Zakim has worked as an attorney at Greater Boston Legal Services and the law firm Mintz Levin before the election.

Zakim's housing committee has held hearings on health and public safety concerns in rental housing and subpoenaed a controversial landlord.

Zakim pointed to a recent ordinance he filed requiring the Boston Public Library to include voter registration information when residents apply for a library card. The ordinance would also call for Boston public high schools to provide time off from school for eligible students to vote on election day, and for the Boston Transportation Department to automatically register applicants for a residential parking permit to vote.

"I think it's important at this time in our country we have a leader in that office who will take action and be open to new ideas," Zakim said.