Karen Porterfield is running as a Democrat for U.S. Congress in Washington’s 8th Congressional District.

With more hastily-baited hooks in the water than one might find in a stocked trout pond on “Kids Fish Free Day,” Democrats have cast a tangle of lines in recent weeks in a fishing expedition for Republican tax returns.

Pres. Barack Obama is stalking rival Republican candidate Mitt Romney’s returns with the singular focus and skill of Santiago, Ernest Hemingway’s obsessed fisherman from the classic novel The Old Man and the Sea.

In the race for Washington State governor, Democratic candidate and former Congressman Jay Inslee parallels Obama’s obsession with his own quest to obtain the 1040’s of State Attorney General and Republican candidate for governor Rob McKenna.

In both cases, voters should expect when the boat finally is dragged ashore there will be as much meat on the Democrats’ catch as clung to the skeleton of Santiago’s mako shark.

With all of the frantic political angling for candidates’ tax returns—a tactic to press for something not required by law—why is 8th Congressional District candidate Karen Porterfield (D) not getting more attention for apparently failing to file the one financial disclosure that is legally required?

State Republican Party Chairman Kirby Wilbur asked that very question in an August 21 letter to the Office of Congressional Ethics that was also distributed to political reporters statewide.

In the letter, Wilbur asked for an investigation on the grounds that Porterfield was required to file her official statement of personal net worth, income, and itemized holdings within 30 days of qualifying to become a candidate for U.S. Congress. Wilbur asserts she became qualified on December 16, 2011.

If Wilbur’s interpretation holds true, Porterfield is nearly eight months past due on providing a detailed picture of her finances, as she is required to do under federal law.

Porterfield did not respond to our request for comment on the matter.

What’s one theory on why the almost eight month absence of Porterfield’s financial disclosure has not elicited any attention from the press? She’s running against Congressman Dave Reichert, the incumbent heavily favored to win re-election in a district that now touches both Eastern and Western Washington after redistricting.

[featured photo credit: rwoan]