Independent gubernatorial candidate Oz Griebel's individual tax return submitted to the Internal Revenue Service for 2017 shows his income was nearly $400,000, and that he paid almost $95,000 in taxes on that income. His refund was about $20,000.

Griebel's campaign released his tax returns for 2015, 2016 and 2017 to The Day on Friday. A former longtime Republican, Griebel headed the MetroHartford Alliance for 17 years before stepping down to run for governor. He garnered enough signatures to petition his way onto the Nov. 6 general election ballot.

Griebel's return for 2016 shows his adjusted gross income was $418,664 and that he paid $99,493 in federal income taxes. In 2015, he paid about $93,000 in federal income taxes on his adjusted gross income of $382,567.

In a Sept. 14 editorial, The Day urged Democrat Ned Lamont and Republican Bob Stefanowski to release their most recent tax returns, both federal and state, and said their respective running mates should do the same.

Requests for comments to the campaigns of Lamont and Stefanowski were not returned before publication time Tuesday.

Stefanowski, a former corporate executive at UBS and General Electric, said, after he and Lamont debated on Sept. 17, that he would release a summary of his financials and the taxes he's paid. When asked when that might happen, Stefanowski reportedly said he'd talk to his team. A campaign spokesman for Lamont, a telecommunications magnate who also inherited money, told reporters that he would release his tax summary pages only if Stefanowski does. During the 2006 senatorial campaign, Lamont released his tax information after incumbent Joe Lieberman challenged him to do so.

The subject of political candidates releasing their tax returns routinely comes up during presidential campaigns. Donald Trump became the first president in 40 years to refuse to release his tax returns.

Vermont is reportedly the only state that has a law requiring gubernatorial candidates to release their tax returns.

During the last gubernatorial race in Connecticut in 2014, Dannel P. Malloy, running for his second term as governor, released four years of partial tax returns. His Republican challenger, Tom Foley, allowed the news media to view his tax return summaries at the law firm Hinckley Allen & Snyder in Hartford.

j.bergman@theday.com