Former U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska has filed a statement of candidacy for the 2014 election, but an aide cautions against reading too much into the move.

Campaign treasurer Tim McKeever says the filing does not mean Stevens has decided to seek re-election. He says it simply was done to accept donations that came into the campaign after the November election.

Stevens lost to Democrat Mark Begich days after being convicted of lying on Senate disclosure forms, but the conviction was vacated this week because of prosecutorial misconduct.

Begich wasn’t declared the winner until two weeks after Election Day.

McKeever says federal election laws require donations received after Nov. 4 to count toward a future election.

If Stevens were to run, the 2014 election would look very much like the 2008 race. Begich says he intends to seek re-election.