Just when speculation that Gov. Bill Richardson will abandon his presidential hopes to run for U.S. Senate was starting to die down, someone mailed state Democratic Party leaders petitions to get Richardson on the ballot for the Senate race.

However, it's not clear who sent out the petitions.

The Richardson campaign — which for weeks has been dismissing all speculation about a Senate run — flatly denied having anything to do with the petitions.

"They're not associated with the campaign," Richardson spokesman Tom Reynolds said Tuesday. "He's not running for Senate."

"We have heard reports from some Democratic State Central Committee members that they have received this petition," state Democratic Party spokesman Jonathan Neal said Tuesday. "We do not know what or whom the source of these petitions is."

He added: "Gov. Richardson's campaign has assured us that they have nothing to do with this petition, that Gov. Richardson is running for president and has no intention of running for Senate."

It's not clear who a phony Richardson petition drive would hurt or help.

U.S. Rep. Tom Udall, Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chávez and Santa Fe activist Leland Lehrman are running for the Democratic nomination for the seat being vacated by longtime U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M.

One local member of the state Democratic Party Central Committee, who provided a copy of the petition to The New Mexican, said he received the blank petition and an unsigned letter mailed to him in a plain white envelope.

The letter is on a plain piece of white paper with no letterhead or campaign logo. "Your continued support is appreciated," the letter says. Please complete the enclosed petition over the next month and return to Bill Richardson." The letter gives the address of Richardson's presidential campaign office in Albuquerque.

The petition is a form from the Secretary of State's Office with Richardson's name and address typed in. There are places for 20 signatures.

To be considered at a political party's pre-primary convention, a candidate must get petition signatures that amount to at least 2 percent of the party's vote in the previous election.

Filing day for candidates is Feb. 12.

Chávez said in an interview Monday that a Democrat he knows in Albuquerque had received a Richardson petition. Chávez said he didn't know who was distributing the petitions.

A spokeswoman for Udall said his campaign was aware of the petitions but assumed they weren't from Richardson.

Contact Steve Terrell at 986-3037 or sterrell@sfnewmexican.com.