DENVER -- Political conventions are not only a place where presidential candidates are nominated, but also where future candidacies for candidates up and down the ballot may be formed.

Attorney General Jack Conway (D-Louisville) addressed speculation about his own future while in Denver for the Democratic National Convention as a delegate.

He is a rumored 2010 candidate for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Southgate).

When asked if he was thinking about seeking other offices, Conway said others were pushing him in that direction, though he sounded a note of commitment to his current position.

“My supporters encourage me to do that,” said Conway of seeking higher office. “One thing I have learned in this game is that it’s nice to have people talking about you, but I’ve been the attorney general now for 8 months and I’m loving the job.”

“I ran for attorney general to make a difference as attorney general…We’ve got a lot of good stuff we are working on,” added Conway. “It’s really a long winded way of saying I just turned 39 years old and who knows what the future holds for me, but I know that I will never get re-elected attorney general or to any other job by failing to do good work right here right now as attorney general.”

Elsewhere in Denver, Conway told the Louisville Courier-Journal he was “definitely interested” in the 2010 race.

One high-profile endeavour the attorney general’s office had tried to confront in recent months is an investigation into disproportionately high gas prices in the Louisville area. Conway said initial work seems to hint there may be a monopoly among gas wholesalers.

“What our preliminary investigation has shown is that we have what appears to be a monopoly in the Louisville market at the wholesale level,” said Conway. “When Ashland and Marathon [oil companies] merged in the late 90’s, the effect over the ensuing ten years is the creation of what appears to be the market dominance of Marathon. We think that’s the reason why Louisville gas prices are so much higher than Chicago or even the surrounding counties in Kentucky.”

Conway said his office was referring the matter to the Federal Trade Commission and the Anti-Trust Division of the Justice Department.

“I’ll be looking at the answers to see if there is any legal action I can take,” said Conway. “I’m dead serious about it.”