Show me the money? Not in the 23rd special election

According to reporting in Politicker and the Watertown Daily Times, both the Democratic candidate, Bill Owens, and the Conservative candidate, Doug Hoffman, have asked for extensions in filing the financial disclosure forms required of all candidates.

Here’s Politicker’s treatment:

Neither Bill Owens, the designee of the Democratic Party, nor Doug Hoffman, the designee of the Conservative Party, have filed a required disclosure document, and Hoffman asked for an extension last week.

Candidates must file the form–which lists employers, income, and asset holdings–within 30 days of raising or spending $5,000.

Hoffman’s has been granted, and could put his form due past Election Day, when everyone expects the special election to take place.

Both of these candidates are essentially blank slates, in terms of the public’s knowledge about their business dealings or their financial histories.

Now it appears that they may remain that way until after the vote in early November.

It’s worth noting that both politicians have made their own financial histories key platforms of their campaigns, talking about their experience creating jobs and managing money.

These delays will make it far harder for voters (and journalists) to evaluate those claims.

As a veteran public official, Republican Dede Scozzafava’s financial background has been thoroughly documented — and will get another in-depth treatment from NCPR tomorrow.

So what do you think? Is it troubling that we won’t have chapter and verse on the Democrat and Conservative politicians before choosing our next Congressman?