UPDATED 1:07 A.M. 10/27/2008 

U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Littleton) has  said he'll be running for governor in 2010, according to a post by the blog RockyMountainRight.com.

However, a Tancredo spokesman said the five-term congressman was only making a joke to former Colorado first lady Frances Owens about running together on the same ticket.

The conservative-leaning blog said Tancredo announced his intentions at a recent gathering of the Mountain Republican Women.

But Tancredo spokesperson T.Q. Houlton dismissed the claim, saying Tancredo's supposed announcement was "just lighthearted banter at his roast."

"The Congressman said to Mrs. Owens that if she would run for Lieutenant Governor, he would run for Governor," Houlton said in an email Sunday.

In response to Houlton's comment, Rocky Mountain Right's Anthony Surace said Tancredo indeed joked about running for governor during the event.

But Surace claimed that after the meeting, Tancredo told many in the room that he actually planned to face incumbent Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter in 2010. 

Since Tancredo dropped out of the GOP presidential primary this spring, he has been the subject of much speculation about whether he'd jump in the race for governor or U.S. senator in 2010.