Brown-Waite's big announcement: Wedding bells

Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite (R-Fla.) sure enough made a major announcement Friday as promised -- but it was all about getting hitched, not ditching her shot at another term as some had suspected.

In a statement from her office, Brown-Waite's staff previewed the announcement at a Lincoln Day dinner Friday night in Hernando, Fla.: "Amongst family, friends, longtime supporters and party faithfuls, Congresswoman Ginny Brown-Waite is expected to make a major announcement."

Instead, the St. Petersburg Times noted in Saturday's edition that "would-be candidates who started eyeing U.S. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite's job in the last 24 hours might want to start shopping for wedding presents instead":

"The four-term Republican incumbent from Brooksville announced Friday evening that she will soon marry 66-year-old Spring Hill businessman Anthony 'Tony' Selvaggio — and that she has collected enough signatures to qualify for re-election.

'Certainly given the challenges of our nation and the hollow words of our president and the trust you have in me, I certainly couldn't walk away,' Brown-Waite, 66, told a crowd during keynote address of the Citrus County Republicans' Lincoln Day Dinner in Hernando."

Congrats to Rep. Brown-Waite -- both for planning that walk down the aisle, and for making the joyful announcement a suspenseful event for campaign watchers everywhere!