Portsmouth Mayor Steve Marchand confirmed that he’s planning to run for the Democratic nomination to take on Sen. John Sununu in 2008.

Marchand, who ran for City Council in 2005 and landed in the mayor’s seat with the majority of votes, said he spent a couple months weighing his chances and discussing the move with his family. He ultimately decided the political atmosphere in New Hampshire offered a great opportunity to seize a seat in the U.S. government.

Among Marchand’s top priorities, if elected, is changing the direction of the war in Iraq. He believes a surge in troops would send a bad message to the Iraqi people and would do little to improve stability around Baghdad.

“The decision by the Bush administration to increase the number of troops in Iraq is one that I oppose vehemently,” Marchand said, adding that the country must begin withdrawing troops.

The mayor also disagrees with Sununu’s support for the privatization of Social Security and Medicare. If elected, he would also put greater emphasis on an environmental policy that would slow global warming while creating jobs and saving taxpayers money.

Stonyfield Farms CEO Gary Hirshberg is also considering a Senate bid and is expected to make a decision within the next few months. Sununu was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2002 after serving three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Although he has not yet made a formal announcement about his decision to run, Marchand is building a grassroots network and doing “behind the scenes” work to prepare for his campaign. In the meantime, he said he will remain focused on his mayoral duties in Portsmouth.