U.S. Rep. C.W. Bill Young has sent a campaign email saying he's planning more advertising and his own "truth meter"-- watch out, Politifact -- to counter the attacks by Democrat Charlie Justice in their race for Young's House seat.

From Friday's e-mail by Young, R-Indian Shores:

"I have not used radio and television time much in the past because it is so expensive and in election years like this with so many candidates on the ballot difficult to come by. This year, however, our opponent has made this campaign personal and that will require our response. Instead of talking about the important issues before our nation, he just puts out lies, distortions and personal attacks against me and my family, plus a little name calling. We will respond to these attacks and will even add to our web site a truth meter to set the record straight."

(Full email on the jump)

Justice, a state senator from St. Petersburg who is planning a  Midtown Sundries fundraiser on June 8, has tried to hammer Young over his prolific use of earmarks in his 20 terms years in Congress.

David DeCamp, Times staff writer

Dear Friend,

Thanks to your support, we have completed the first phase of Campaign 2010. In less than a month, we collected more than 10,000 signatures to qualify by petition to appear on the ballot this November. We collected so many that the Supervisor of Elections quit counting when we hit the required number.

In the first two months of our campaign, we also have received 1,600 contributions from private residents of Pinellas County. Our fundraising efforts have been helped by our new capability to accept credit card contributions via our web site. You can take a look at our newly updated and redesigned web site at www.CongressmanBillYoung.com. Please forward this information to your family, friends, neighbors and coworkers who might like to join our people-to-people campaign and who also might like to link to our Facebook page.

We now begin the second phase of Campaign 2010 which includes the development of campaign materials and print, radio and television advertising. As part of that process we have begun planning our advertising scheduling. I have not used radio and television time much in the past because it is so expensive and in election years like this with so many candidates on the ballot difficult to come by. This year, however, our opponent has made this campaign personal and that will require our response. Instead of talking about the important issues before our nation, he just puts out lies, distortions and personal attacks against me and my family, plus a little name calling. We will respond to these attacks and will even add to our web site a truth meter to set the record straight.

This election year has moved quickly and as we begin phase two of our campaign, we have just five months to go until Election Day. Thank you for your support and I look forward to working with you in the weeks ahead.

Yours truly, Bill Young