U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello has been on the job about 10 weeks, and he's well aware that the five-term incumbent he beat is making plans for a comeback.

Former 5th Congressional District representative Virgil Goode filed a statement of candidacy this week with the Federal Election Commission.

Goode says he's not ready to make his candidacy official yet, though.

"It's just so the papers would be there so I could explore running," he said. "I'll be looking at the situation, talking to people, finding out what their opinions are, attending events."

According the most recent FEC report, Goode had $165,985 on hand as of Dec. 31. Goode's filing this week allows him to continue to raise campaign funds.

Perriello, D-Albemarle County, declined to comment on Goode's filing.

Goode, a Republican, said he is receiving positive feedback from supporters since his razor-thin loss to Perriello in November. Fewer than 1,000 votes separated the candidates after a recount in December. The small margin of Perriello's win, coupled with the absence of larger races in 2010 -- such as those for president or the U.S. Senate -- have some political analysts speculating about Perriello's vulnerability.

"It's easy to look at the political landscape and guess what 2010 will look like, but people will base their decision in 2010 when they see what Perriello does," said Jared Leopold, spokesman for the Democratic Party of Virginia. "It shows he [Goode] missed the message of the 2008 election, which was Virginians in the 5th District wanted change and that he's out of touch."

Goode's filing wasn't really a shock, because just weeks ago "he was going around acting like he was still a congressman," Leopold said.

In late February, Goode made a trip around the district, handing out federal dollars from the legislation passed earlier this year that he said he worked to get appropriated before he left office.

During a stop in Rocky Mount, he announced money for the Booker T. Washington National Monument for a visitors center, $500,000 for an infrastructure project in Franklin County and more than $400,000 for the Blue Ridge Institute & Museum at Ferrum College.

"He deserves credit for working to get that in, but it was Perriello that worked to get it through on this bill," Leopold said. "It's strange that he [Goode] would claim credit for something that, at the very least, should be a joint project."

Goode responded by saying, "All the work was done in 2008. It's usual for the fall appropriation measures to be carried over to the next year. If you look it up on the Internet, it's my name by it, not Perriello's."