Everything is for sale in cyberspace, but Tony Ojeda, a candidate for the Legislature, figured there were some lines people wouldn’t cross. Then somebody bought a Web address he planned to use in his campaign: www.tonyojeda.com. Ojeda got a little angry. Then he found out who bought it: Ryan Renner. And Ojeda’s lid blew off.

Renner is president of the University of Nebraska at Omaha College Democrats.

“This is very underhanded,” said Ojeda, a Republican running for the seat in District 30, which covers Gage County and the southern half of Lancaster County.

“The Democratic Party has been trying to take the high road with everything, and here they go again — going back down to where they were before.”

Renner confirmed he bought www.tonyojeda.com but declined to comment further.

But others in his party say Ojeda reeks of sour grapes. Snatching up name-based Web addresses has become a favorite game of political operatives with both major parties.

To date, though, Nebraska politicos haven’t used the trick much, if at all. Then a higher-up in the state Democratic Party added it to his regular battle arsenal.

Earlier this year, Heath Mello went on an Internet buying spree, picking up Web addresses containing the names of some of the state’s most well-known Republican politicians and candidates.

He is the owner of www.daveheineman.com, www.daveheineman.org, www.coachosborne.com, www.senatorchuckhagel.com and www.kramer2006.com, referring to U.S. Senate candidate David Kramer, a Republican.

Mello, deputy director of the state Democratic Party, pocketed another Web address he thinks might come in handy: www.dumpfort.com.

That could someday lead surfers to a site criticizing U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, a Republican who represents the 1st District.

Mello says he, not the party, bought the addresses for about $10 each. But not as a “low-ball tactic,” he said.

“It’s a strategy to get the other side to think harder about marketing their Web sites,” Mello said.

“For tech-savvy operations around the country, it’s what people are doing — both Republicans and Democrats.”

Asked if he would sell some of the addresses to their namesakes, Mello said he’d be willing to negotiate.

Neither Mello nor Barry Rubin, executive director of the state Democratic Party, could recall instances where Nebraska Republicans bought addresses containing the names of Democrats.

Rubin said he has witnessed Republican name-snatching in other states. “Republicans started it,” he said.

Rubin’s counterpart in the state Republican Party, Jessica Moenning, scolded the Democrats and said she was confident nobody on her staff had used the tactic.

“It sounds like the Democrats are gearing up for a dirty campaign season,” she said.

Told of Mello’s assertion he acted independent of his party, Moenning responded: “Oh, please. He’s the press guy for the state Democratic Party.”

For Ojeda’s part, he was able to secure another Web address, but it took more than a week to do so.

“If the tactic was meant to be a distraction to my campaign, they accomplished their goal,” Ojeda said.

Reach Nate Jenkins at 473-7223 or njenkins@journalstar.com.