Daub tapped equity for campaign

In the final days of his mayoral campaign, Hal Daub did something he didn't want to do — tapping $200,000 of equity in his home. Now he's asking for help paying the money back.

Daub said he needed extra money quickly in the last three weeks before the May 12 general election. It was part of an 11th-hour attempt to hold off his opponent, Jim Suttle, he said.

“It's embarrassing to have a debt,” Daub said Friday. “I've not liked to do that during campaigns. It's not what you plan for.”

Daub sent letters, dated Aug. 10, to “friends and supporters” seeking contributions to help him settle the debt.

“We did not want to let our friends, our supporters and Omaha down,” Daub wrote.

“The decision to go into debt and borrow against our only equity, our home, was proven to be a good decision as we narrowly lost and could not have expected victory but for this additional financial injection at the eleventh hour.”

The letter-writing campaign is working, he said. At the time he wrote the letter, Daub said he still owed $128,000. As of Friday, the debt had been reduced to $89,000.

Daub, who was Omaha's mayor from 1995 to 2001, said he borrowed against his house because it was the only major source of equity for him and his wife, Mary.

His personal financial disclosure statement, filed with the state, lists Daub as part owner of Candlewood Shopping Center and a minority shareholder in Rick's Cafe Boatyard.

The couple used $300,000 of their savings to pay for his brief U.S. Senate run in 2007, Daub said. That, he said, combined with the poor economy, hit the couple hard.

The Daubs' Regency home was assessed this year at $880,000, according to the Douglas County Assessor's Office.

The former mayor, who works as an attorney, said some might assume he is wealthy.

“I make a good living, and I work hard at it,” he said. “We're not loaded. We have a nice home, and that's where all of our money is.”

Daub's primary opponents, Suttle and Jim Vokal, also have received contributions to pay off campaign expenses.

Vokal's final campaign finance report showed he loaned his campaign $10,000. Vokal told The World-Herald Friday that he loaned his campaign additional personal funds to pay bills.

Suttle raised enough money immediately after the election to pay off $70,000 of the $90,000 in personal loans that the retired engineer made to his campaign.

His spokesman, Ron Gerard, said Friday that the remainder of those loans has since been paid off.

Daub said he's thankful for the contributions he has received.

“It's humbling,” he said, “to realize how many good friends we have.”

Contact the writer:

444-3100, maggie.obrien@owh.com

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