WINDHAM, N.H. (AP) – A little more than a year into the first term of his first political office, state Rep. Jim Coburn of Windham is setting his sights on the top job: governor.

The Republican says he realizes Democratic Gov. John Lynch has high approval ratings, even among Republicans, and he accepts that few people outside of political circles and the Londonderry restaurant where he dines occasionally know he’s running, but he’s not discouraged.

Coburn is meeting with Republican activists and laying the groundwork for a campaign he says will begin in earnest after the legislative session ends and the election filing period opens in June.

“I think Republicans are really looking for some leadership,” Coburn told the Concord Monitor. He said he believes the state would benefit from a Republican governor to “tie the link in between the House and Senate leadership and the Republican Party and get some really good things done,”especially on health care and education.

For the last few months, he has spoken frequently to Republican groups. He also makes regular appearances at political events, wearing his legislative nametag.

Coburn entered politics after selling his half of Valco Data Systems, a successful medical-records technology firm he co-founded in 1994.

He followed the Mitt Romney caravan through New Hampshire on Saturday. In Concord, the Massachusetts governor and prospective presidential candidate introduced Coburn and thanked him for “fighting the valid fight.”

So far, former Franklin mayor Tony Giunta is the only other Republican who has said publicly he is considering the possibility of running.

Coburn was raised by his grandparents in Chester after his mother died of cancer when he was 7. His grandmother taught him to be an optimist. She believed “whatever I chose to do, I could do it,” Coburn said.

Coburn believes he can raise the seven-figure sum necessary to mount a credible run for governor, between personal contributions and fundraising.

“We may have to go out of state for some of it. We just need to convince people that we have a viable campaign,” he said. “And we do.”