Delaware Senator Joseph Biden Two stories have dominated the political news cycle of late: vice presidential picks and the number of houses the presidential candidates own. The obvious next step, then, is to ask how many houses the potential vice presidents own.

The answer? That’s a little harder to come by. Politicians don’t have to list the houses they own on their financial disclosure forms. According to Legistorm.com:

“While some [politicians do disclose their homes], listing primary residences is entirely optional on both the assets and debts pages. In fact, other forms of assets are excluded, such as valuable items owned, like antiques and artwork.”

Unbowed, the Center compiled information on the houses owned by eight of the leading V.P. candidates or their spouses. Today, we will be looking at the Democratic options; next week we’ll take a look at the Republicans. Information comes from both official financial disclosure forms, located free at http://www.opensecrets.org and http://www.legistorm.com, and from searches using the Nexis.com website, which is subscriber-only. All money totals are based on the most recent assessments available:

DEMOCRATIC V.P. OPTIONS AND THEIR LAND HOLDINGS

• Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana owns:
  -An apartment in Indianapolis worth $65,300. (Nexis)
  -A house in Washington, D.C., worth $2,235,150. (Nexis)
  -A house in Bethany Beach, Delaware, that his family rents out, bringing in between $15,001 – $50,000 a year in income. (Legistorm.com)

• Senator Hillary Clinton of New York owns:
  -A house in Washington, D.C., worth $4,955,940. (Nexis)
  -A house in Chappaqua, New York, worth $1,700,000 at time of purchase in 1999. (Nexis)

• Senator Joseph Biden of Delaware owns:
  -A house in Wilmington, Delaware, worth $525,700. (Nexis)

• Governor Tim Kaine of Virginia owns:
  -A house in Richmond, Virginia, worth $335,300. (Nexis)

UPDATE: The Republican options, including Sarah Palin. And click here to find out who owns Joe Biden.

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