PORTSMOUTH - Former city mayor Steve Marchand has announced he’s running for governor, several months after his last campaign for the same position ended.

Marchand, a Democrat, sent an email to supporters Monday announcing he will run again for governor in 2018. Marchand lost in the Democratic primary won by Colin Von Ostern in 2016.

The announcement comes just a few months after current Republican Gov. Chris Sununu took office.

Marchand immediately targeted Sununu in the announcement email.

"After watching Chris Sununu prioritize right-wing positions on privatizing public education, weakening unions, discouraging voter turnout, failing to lead on LGBTQ equality, and pushing tax cuts for a small number of large companies at the expense of everybody else, it's more clear to me than ever that New Hampshire deserves a governor who can make New Hampshire the best state in America to start a family and start a business," Marchand wrote in the email.

Marchand served as mayor of Portsmouth from 2006 to 2007 after two years as a city councilor. He worked as director of corporate relations for the University of New Hampshire from 2012 to 2014, and has also run a consulting business and worked on numerous political campaigns.

“Too many people think we have to choose: Either we help working people and their families, or we focus on growing our economy,” Marchand said in the email. “But my experience shows me that the right priorities do both.”

Marchand called for delivering “America's best educational outcomes for our kids” and supporting the state’s small businesses and entrepreneurs.

“We need to fix our roads, bridges, sewers, and electric grid, because why should businesses invest in New Hampshire, if New Hampshire won't invest in New Hampshire,” Marchand said.

Finally, he called for creating a health-care system that’s “stable, affordable and accessible.”

Portsmouth lawyer and Republican activist John Lyons said he believes “Chris Sununu is a very good governor, but I’m also pleased when someone from Portsmouth has decided to run.”

He added that Marchand was “an excellent mayor.”

“I’m a strong supporter of Chris Sununu,” Lyons said Monday. “From the Democratic side, Steve Marchand will be a good candidate.”

Jim Splaine, a longtime Democratic activist and Portsmouth’s assistant mayor, said he knows Marchand “quite well” and “voted for him for City Council.”

“I think that he’s certainly got an excellent background and good ideas,” Splaine said Monday.

Splaine said he hopes that Mark Connolly will “consider running again” as he did in 2016.

“I supported Mark last time and would support him again,” Splaine said.

He knows Connolly from their time in the state Legislature together and commended the Democrat for his work as director of the Bureau of Securities Regulation.

“He’s one of the most honest people involved in state government we’ve ever had,” Splaine said about Connolly.

He congratulated Marchand on his decision to run and said the party “will benefit from the dialogue we have.”

Within hours after Marchand announced, the Republican Governor’s Association sent out a press release stating Marchand is “already trying to sell fictions about his record to Granite State voters.”

“On his campaign website, Marchand proclaims in all caps: “I AM THE MOST FISCALLY RESPONSIBLE CANDIDATE,” but in reality, Steve Marchand has a long record of advocating and enacting tax hikes on New Hampshire citizens,” the Governor’s Association stated in its press release.

“From property taxes, to the gas tax, to the business profits tax cut, Marchand has consistently supported increasing the tax burden on New Hampshire families,” the press release adds.

Marchand could not immediately be reached for comment Monday.