Golden announces that he is set to announce congressional bid

Former Bradenton city councilman James T. Golden, who has done everything but announce his candidacy to indicate that he is challenging U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan in next year's elections, announced Tuesday that he is ready to announce.

But you will have to wait until Nov. 5 to know for sure that his campaign is official.

Golden, a Democrat, sent out an e-mail to media and presumably presumptive supporters asking them to "save the date" for the kick-off of his campaign for the 13th Congressional District seat held by Buchanan, R-Sarasota, since 2007.

Details of where and exactly when will be announced later, according to the e-mail.

Cynics may conclude Golden is just trying to drag out his announcement for maximum publicity. But maybe he should be complimented for waiting until this year's election on Nov. 3 has passed before trying to get voters to pay attention to next year's campaign.

Golden may not yet be an announced candidate, but he already has collected at least $26,000 in contributions - a fraction of the almost $705,000 in cash Buchanan had on hand as of June 30, the latest available figure.

How much Golden and Buchanan have raised in the third quarter of the year will be released next month.