Call it the rumor that nobody started.

Tony Marcella, campaign manager for former secretary-of-state hopeful Guillaume de Ramel, contacted Political Scene to say that “a number of people” had contacted de Ramel to ask whether he might be interested in the chairmanship of the state Democratic Party.

There’s just one problem: The state party already has a chairman, William J. Lynch.

Contacted by Political Scene, Lynch denied any plans to cede the post and said de Ramel is “about the 20th different person” whose name has been bandied about as his successor. “Guillaume called me himself to tell me he had heard it and he knew nothing about it and he wanted to make sure I knew there was no truth to it,” Lynch said.

Political Scene made some calls to politicians around the state, and found Rep. Amy G. Rice, D-Portsmouth, willing to go on the record. “I heard that he’s interested and I wholeheartedly support his candidacy,” Rice said. “He has a lot of fresh ideas and I think he would be great. I will be supporting him, for sure.”

For the record, de Ramel, who lost the Democratic primary for secretary of state to North Providence Mayor A. Ralph Mollis three weeks ago, is interested in the chairmanship — but only, Marcella stressed, when Lynch is ready to vacate the job. “Guillaume supports Bill Lynch a hundred percent,” Marcella said.

Regardless of what happens with the chairmanship, de Ramel is “looking to play an active role within the Democratic Party within the next few years” and plans to maintain a campaign office, Marcella said.

De Ramel, a Newport native from a wealthy family, did well in the southern half of the state and in rural areas. He got more votes than Mollis did in 27 communities: Barrington, Bristol, Burrillville, Charlestown, Coventry, East Greenwich, Exeter, Foster, Glocester, Hopkinton, Jamestown, Little Compton, Middletown, Narragansett, Newport, North Kingstown, North Smithfield, Portsmouth, Richmond, Scituate, Smithfield, South Kingstown, Tiverton, Warren, Warwick, West Greenwich and Woonsocket.

But in general, Mollis won in the more populous communities, so in the end, just 12 of the state’s 39 communities were enough to carry him over the finish line. Mollis prevailed in Central Falls, Cranston, Cumberland, East Providence, Johnston, Lincoln, New Shoreham, North Providence, Pawtucket, Providence, West Warwick and Westerly.

The Republican candidate for secretary of state, Warwick City Councilwoman Sue Stenhouse, got even more votes than Mollis did — 42,495 to Mollis’ 42,385 — perhaps due to the unusually high number of voters who took part in the Republican primary. (On the Republican primary ballot, Stenhouse was the only choice for secretary of state.)

A record 63,459 people voted in the GOP primary this year, smashing the previous record by nearly 20,000. “That’s where all our votes went,” Marcella said. In the 2002 Democratic primary for secretary of state, which pitted Matt Brown against Ed Inman, 103,000 people voted. In the Mollis-de Ramel race, fewer than 80,000 votes were cast.

In the end, de Ramel trailed Mollis by 4,949 votes — a narrow margin, considering that “six months ago, no one knew his name,” Marcella said.

Despite the nastiness of the primary campaign, de Ramel is throwing his support behind Mollis in the fight against Stenhouse. “He wishes the mayor well,” Marcella said. “He’s a Democrat and he’s going to stand by the Democrats.”