Former state Sen. Maggie Hassan is the first Democrat to enter New Hampshire’s 2012 gubernatorial race. The Exeter attorney declared her candidacy during a press conference at Manchester Community College on Oct. 25.

Hassan is seeking the seat to be vacated by Gov. John Lynch, the four-term incumbent Democrat who is not running for reelection next year. The only Republican to enter the race so far is Manchester attorney Ovide Lamontagne.

If elected, Hassan said she would be “fiscally disciplined, balance the budget and keep taxes low.” But state Republicans scoffed at that promise, accusing Hassan of supporting big government and higher taxes during her time in the Senate.

Hassan defeated incumbent Republican Russell Prescott in 2004 to win a seat representing Senate District 23. She served three terms before losing to Prescott amidst a swell of Republican victories in the 2010 election.

The July Fourth Forum, a conservative political action committee chaired by Republican Patrick Hynes, quickly aired an ad accusing Hassan of supporting more than 80 tax and fee increases in the Senate (and repeatedly mispronouncing her name).

Hassan countered by calling the July Fourth Forum an “extremist PAC” and accusing them of trying to “direct attention away from an out of control legislature with an extremist agenda and the right wing gubernatorial candidates who would be a rubber stamp for their policies.”

Other much-discussed candidates for governor include Democrat Jackie Cilley, another former state senator, and Republican John Stephen, the former state health commissioner and 2010 gubernatorial candidate.