State election officials on Thursday were still deliberating on how to handle evidence that Jerome Block Jr. lied about how he spent public campaign funds.

Meanwhile, a campaign spokesman said Block told police that someone entered an office at his La Puebla home Thursday morning and apparently went through his personal files.

Spokesman Jonathan Valdez said he wasn't sure if anything was missing but there was no sign of forced entry. He also said an ethnic slur was found on a wall.

The Secretary of State's Office has taken up talks with the Attorney General's Office, which handles investigations into alleged campaign-finance fraud.

"We are going to confer with our legal counsel at the AG's Office," Secretary of State spokesman James Flores said. "That's really all I'm going to say at this point."

Typically, a formal complaint to the secretary of state would trigger a review of whether a matter deserves investigation, Flores has said, but in this case, no complaint was filed. He said earlier Thursday that his office had received an e-mail Block sent to the Las Vegas Optic in which he admitted lying about $2,500 in public campaign money he gave to a country band headed by the San Miguel County clerk, that county's top election official.

"I have no comment at this time," Block said by e-mail Thursday about the two state agencies getting together to talk about the matter.

The state Democratic Party chairman, Brian Colón, said in a statement: "Whether it is a Democrat or Republican, we believe in accountability and integrity in the election process. I have confidence in the Secretary of State and the Attorney General to investigate these serious allegations thoroughly."

Attorney General Gary King, who was near Lordsburg when reached Thursday, said he hasn't learned how much his office might be involved at this point. "If it's been assigned to my office, it hasn't gotten to my level, so I can't really comment on it because I don't really have enough data to know what our office could even know," said King, a Democrat.

If it's determined Block violated the state Voter Action Act, he could possibly be forced to return the $101,508 he received in public campaign funds. That includes $36,730 for the primary and $64,778 for the general election, according to the secretary of state's Web site.

The Voter Action Act says: "A person who willfully or knowingly violates the provisions of the Voter Action Act or rules of the secretary or knowingly makes a false statement in a report required by that act is guilty of a fourth-degree felony and, if he is a certified candidate, shall return to the fund all money distributed to that candidate."

Block, 31, has said he gave the $2,500 to San Miguel Clerk Paul Maez's band, Wyld Country, to perform at a rally about a month before the June primary. The expenditure is in his most recent campaign-finance report. But this week, he admitted lying, and after two band members stated no such show had occurred, said the band didn't play.

Efforts to reach Maez, whom Block describes as a longtime friend, were unsuccessful Thursday.

Block's opponent, 42-year-old Rick Lass of the Green Party, said: "I do think the AG and secretary of state should look into it. I think it's their job under the public-financing law, so I'm glad they're looking into it."

Block's spokesman, Valdez, e-mailed The New Mexican to say Block's home had been burglarized Thursday morning. "They vandalized the office, and the really sick part to me is they wrote on the wall of the office." Valdez said later by phone. Valdez said liar was written on the wall, along with a derogatory term for Hispanic.

"(Block) can't remember if he locked one of the back doors or not," Valdez said.

He said the two discovered the break-in after having a breakfast meeting in Española and stopping by Block's home in La Puebla — which is between Española and Pojoaque — before heading to Santa Fe. Valdez said it appeared someone had gone through the family's personal files. "No family members were home, thank God," he said.

State police went to the home after Block called them around 11 a.m., but a report wasn't immediately available, police spokesman Peter Olson said.

Despite admitting he lied on his campaign spending report, Block said this week that he plans to remain in the race. No Republican candidate is running in the heavily Democratic district.

If Block were to drop out of the race, state law indicates his name would remain on the ballot: "Appointments to fill vacancies in the list of a party's nominees shall be made and filed at least fifty-six days prior to the general election."

In June, Block won a six-way Democratic primary with 23 percent of the vote and took first place in just Sam Miguel County, one of 12 counties in PRC District 3.

The PRC job pays $90,000 a year and involves overseeing the regulation of utilities, telecommunications, insurance and motor carriers. District 3 includes Santa Fe, parts of Bernalillo and Sandoval counties and north-central and northeastern New Mexico. Block's father, Jerome Block Sr., once served on the PRC and its predecessor, the State Corporation Commission.

Staff writer Kate Nash contributed to this report.

Contact Doug Mattson at 986-3087 or dmattson@sfnewmexican.com.