The campaign manager for U.S. Rep. Lynn Jenkins acknowledged his staff was overly aggressive as it followed Democratic challenger Britani Potter to recent campaign stops, behavior that Potter has labeled political espionage.

On Tuesday, Potter accused Jenkins’ staff of volunteering for the Potter campaign under aliases, taking photos of her campaign office and recording conversations with Potter during campaign stops.

"She’s using her paid staff as her personal spies to infiltrate my campaign and follow me around the district while I try to create meaningful dialogue with the people," Potter said. "This type of behavior is disgusting, corrupt, and further supports that Lynn Jenkins is a career politician only looking out for her own interests and worried about losing this election."

Potter, a school board member in Ottawa, recently wrapped up a 25-county tour of the 2nd District. At each stop, she said, young Jenkins staffers prodded her for opinions with audio and video recorders at the ready.

In an email Wednesday, Lee Modesitt, Jenkins’ campaign manager, acknowledged his staff had gone too far.

"A few members of our college-aged campaign staff were overly aggressive in trying to get answers," Modesitt said. "Upon learning of this, the congresswoman advised those staff members that this is not how we run a campaign and has been assured it will not happen again."

Modesitt shifted some of the blame to Potter, accusing her of refusing to say whom she supports for president or where she stands on important issues.

Because of this, Modesitt said, his staffers were forced to follow Potter in search of answers.

"This is a common practice in campaigns, as Democrats have done it to us regularly in the past. Unfortunately, there is little interaction on her Facebook page and literally no one else showed up to many of her events," Modesitt said.

Potter alleges that Elizabeth Dunn, a political director for the Jenkins campaign, attempted to register as a volunteer for the Potter campaign.

Potter sent reporters a photo of someone who looks similar to Dunn completing a volunteer form.

The Jenkins campaign said Dunn attended a Potter event and signed a form but wasn’t aware it was volunteer registration paperwork.

Potter also accuses Adam Moon and Victoria Snitsar, college students and field interns for Jenkins, of attending a town hall event for Potter.

In an accompanying photo, a woman who looks similar to Snitsar can be seen recording the event with her phone.

"If (Jenkins) is willing to commit espionage, pay staffers to lie and create false identities, and have staffers use social media to harass and stalk her opponents, what other corrupt and deceitful tactics will she use to get what she wants?" Potter said.

"The public should know about her lack of integrity and unethical behavior."

Attempts to contact the Jenkins campaign staff members Potter named were unsuccessful Wednesday.

The campaign said Moon and Snitsar identified themselves to Potter and weren’t deceptive.

As Modesitt notes, the use of trackers — employees of a campaign tasked with following, and recording, an opposing candidate — isn’t uncommon in congressional races. Trackers are generally young, tech-savvy partisans making inroads into politics.

This week’s dispute is the first aggressive exchange in what has been a relatively low-key race between Jenkins, a four-term Republican congresswoman, and her Democratic opponent, both of whom ran unopposed in the August primary.

The two will square off Nov. 8 across the 2nd District, which includes Topeka, Lawrence and most of eastern Kansas.