By Mike Kaszuba

During his campaign, Independence Party gubernatorial candidate Tom Horner has been criticized for not releasing a list of clients he had when he worked for Himle Horner Inc., his longtime public relations firm.

Horner has repeatedly said that he left Himle Horner on June 1, but that severing his financial ties to the firm were complicated. In perhaps an example of those complications, Horner has filed three economic interest statements since early June. -- The first, filed June 10, listed him as having received compensation from Himle Horner during the previous month, and listed him having at least $2,500 in Himle Horner securities. Himle Horner is his only source of securities, the report stated. -- The second, filed July 1 as an amendment, does not list him as having received any compensation from Himle Horner during the previous month. The report lists more than a dozen securities – but does not list Himle Horner among them. "Securities in Himle Horner are under contract and awaiting closing," the statement said. -- The third, filed July 2 as a second amendment, again lists him as having compensation from Himle Horner during the previous month. It also lists more than a dozen securities – but this time again lists Himle Horner as being among them. The July 2 statement adds that "employment in Himle Horner ended 6/1/10. All other interests and corporate positions in firm will terminate upon closing of stock sale." The statement also added that "securities in Himle Horner are under contract; it is anticipated sale of these securities will be effective June 1, 2010, per the terms of the pending contract." In an email to the state Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board on July 2, Horner asked that his July 1 economic interest statement be withdrawn because a "technical correction is required." Horner explained the reason for the multiple economic interest statements. "The effective date of the sale was June 1, as I have said," he wrote in an email. "I filed an initial set of papers that had an addendum of holdings. "The addendum either was lost or didn't get faxed [to the state board]. The amendments to the disclosure statement simply corrected the first filing – no changes or additions, simply included a list of my holdings on the faxed page that was lost on the initial filing," Horner explained. "The second amendment [third filing] reflected the transition away from Himle Horner. The sale has been completed. I hold no positions with Himle Horner, I have no clients – with Himle Horner, on my own or with any other firm – and my ownership of Himle Horner ended on June 1."