Ten days after the May 3 election, the chairman of the Lancaster County Republican Party sent an e-mail to ousted City Councilman Terry Werner in which he taunted Werner for losing his council seat and said "having a private eye follow you was a joy."

Haga's e-mail read, in part: "Let this be a wakeup call to you. The voters of Lincoln wisely rejected your socialist agenda. If needed, we could have addressed your driving record (having a private eye follow you was a joy), . . . and more. Had you been a good Democrat and not a socialist, you might have been re-elected."

Chairman Jim Haga acknowledged to a reporter Tuesday he wrote the e-mail "in anger" but said he regretted it. Haga declined to comment on whether he hired an investigator, saying, "I'm not going to address that . . . To me it's not even a news story."

He later told a Journal Star editor that he didn't hire a private investigator.

Werner was voted out of office on May 3 following what many said was an unprecedented campaign against his re-election by Republicans from the state party on down to individuals.

Haga said "every party researches opposition," but the county party went after Werner's record.

"He lost the race because of his politics," he said. "You can't find an instance where we discussed his personal life, ever."

He implied that the party could have gone after Werner personally, but it didn't.

"Terry lost because of his public record and this race, like in the last county commissioner's race, while there's always information that comes out about candidates that's personal, we didn't use it," he said.

Then he criticized the Journal Star for not doing "due diligence" researching Werner before the election.

                                                                                                                                            Prior to the election, Haga pitched a story about a Small Business Administration loan that he said Werner obtained for his travel agency after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Haga said Werner's acceptance of a disaster loan was hypocritical based on his opposition to the war on terrorism.

The Journal Star did not write about the loan. Haga said that's the "real story."

"It's curious why the newspaper's interested in Terry's background today when you weren't before," Haga said. "It almost boggles my mind."

Later in the day, Haga told the Journal Star editor that he did not hire a private eye but put that in the e-mail because he knew Werner would take it to the press and the Journal Star would write about it — proving the paper's bias. When asked if he lied to Werner to try to prove a reporter's bias, he said, "I guess I did."

Haga recently announced he will be stepping down as chairman of the county party to take a job in Denver, but a replacement has not yet been named.

Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission Director Frank Daley said if the county party hired an investigator, that expenditure would have to be reported, but only in a bulk report on the amount of money they spent to oppose a candidate. In its state contribution report 10 days before the May 3 election, the county GOP reported spending $26,250 to oppose Werner.

The treasurer of the county party, Rob Bryant, said he personally signs all checks and has no knowledge of a private detective being hired by the party.

Werner said he received Haga's e-mail out of the blue 10 days after the election; when he finished fifth in a field of six council candidates. He said he was surprised to get such a "mean, mean, nasty e-mail" rubbing his face in the loss.

"I took it as another ‘In your face, nah-nah-nah-nah-nah,'" Werner said. "When I read that, I was just, I mean, I just don't understand how people can be so mean-spirited. It's so outrageous."

As for the private eye, Werner said, "I'd be surprised if he was just blowing smoke.

"Nothing surprises me at this point," he said. "Either he's a liar or they hired one."

As for Haga's comment on Werner's driving record, Werner said he recalls getting two speeding tickets — one while delivering Meals On Wheels.

"Some might say I'm an aggressive driver, but I don't actually have a record," he said.

The heads of the state Republican and Democratic parties and political consultants agreed that hiring a private investigator to trail a candidate would be virtually unheard of in Nebraska politics. While parties routinely research candidates' backgrounds, business dealings, criminal and civil records, they said the work is normally done by staff members or interns.

"Certainly we didn't know about or have anything to do with a private investigator," GOP Executive Director Jessica Moenning said. "I think Terry Werner's record on the City Council provided enough information about his priorities that we were able to demonstrate that they were out of touch with the average voter."

The head of the state Democratic Party, Barry Rubin, said while professional firms are sometimes hired to research candidates for higher office, like governor or Congress, hiring a P.I. "sounds pretty seedy to me."

Political consultant Phil Young said it's routine for the opposing party to do opposition research in which they check candidates' public records for unpaid taxes, liens, traffic violations, lawsuits and so on. Most of the time, either nothing is found or it's irrelevant, he said.

"I've never hired a private investigator to do that kind of stuff," he said. "That would not be the usual mode of operation in the political circles that I've worked in."

Former political consultant Rick Hoppe, who worked on Werner's campaign until being hired as an aide to the mayor, said he's never heard of anybody hiring a private detective to check out a candidate in Nebraska, although it's done in other states. If it was done to Werner, it was "extremely unethical," he said.

"There's a huge difference between doing your research at your library and having someone followed around," he said. "The price of running for office shouldn't be personal privacy."

Reach Deena Winter at 473-2642 or dwinter@journalstar.com.