In recent weeks, Jerome Block Jr. has become hard to reach. Accused of breaking campaign-finance law, dodging political forums, providing an incomplete academic and arrest history, and nepotism, he has responded sparingly if at all lately.

He doesn't takes phone calls anymore, and when e-mailed questions, the Public Regulation Commission candidate might reply to one or two of his choosing.

When he admitted lying about how he used $2,500 in public campaign money, Block pounced on just one of several e-mailed questions. "One quick question for you. Why would I not continue with the campaign?" he said. "My support is broad, and I am confident that my hard work will pay off just as it did in the primary."

One of the only times he volunteered information came in an e-mail from his spokesman to tell a reporter that Block's home in La Puebla had been burglarized, a case a state police spokesman called "suspicious."

His detractors say Block is buying time, trying to fend off pressure until Election Day, when he stands a strong chance of claiming the seat representing a heavily Democratic district in north-central and northeastern New Mexico.

The chairwoman of the Santa Fe County Democratic Party, Minnie Gallegos, who has been largely silent about Block's controversies, said the candidate needs to be more accessible. Organizations that either tried to organize forums or ask Block questions to help decide on a possible endorsement were met with silence.

Perhaps Block's biggest supporter has another theory. His mother, Patsy Block, said her son's unresponsiveness comes from being besieged by a news-gathering community of "mean-spirited people with dangerous minds."

"I'm sure this is how it would get to you. Always ask yourself, how would it get to me?" she said. "You should see all the e-mails he's getting form reporters," she added. "He can't even function at home; he can't even have any peace at home. People keep calling him and calling him and calling him."

Block, 31, beat five other Democrats in the June primary, a feat detractors attribute to confusion over whether it was he or his better-known father, Jerome Block Sr., who was running. His campaign signs didn't include "Sr." or "Jr."

But Block Jr. credited his win to hitting the campaign trail hard.

"I don't think I'm ducking the issues at all," he said during a lone sit-down interview with The New Mexican that took many weeks to arrange. "During the primary, I campaigned at every county in my district, spoke the issues, talked about my platform. A lot of people missed the opportunity, unfortunately."

Block Jr. also dismissed opponent Rick Lass' claim that the younger Block feels entitled to the PRC seat because of his family's long political history in Northern New Mexico.

Block Jr.'s father served on both the PRC and its predecessor, the state Corporation Commission, for 18 years, from 1987 through 2004. He now works as a lobbyist for a telecommunications company and tracks PRC issues.

Block Jr.'s grandfather, the late John Block, was a corporation commissioner for 10 years, until 1962, and served as mayor of Española.

"I don't know if it draws us," Block Sr. said. "I know that my family on both my father's side and mother's side have been involved in politics for hundreds of years."

Block Sr.'s great-great-great-uncle, Jose Antonio Martinez, was a political activist in Taos who started the state's first penny press and had a Catholic seminary for boys, he said. "He used to butt heads with Bishop Lamy over some of his policies," Block Sr. said of Martinez. He also said his great-great grandfather served in the territorial legislature, and many other relatives held seats on school boards, city councils and electric cooperatives.

The name Block comes from Block Sr.'s grandfather, who was born on a ship from Prussia and adopted Block Sr.'s father, who was born a Salazar on San Juan Pueblo and went to live with a relative in Española because his parents wanted him to get a better education. Block Sr. said his grandfather used modern farming techniques in the Santa Cruz Valley and helped build the Santa Cruz Dam.

In a newspaper ad, Block Jr. noted this heritage while also taking a slap at Lass, who moved to Santa Fe in 1984. "I am not responsible for my opponent's lack of roots or family connections in this district," he said.

Block Jr. said he didn't necessarily pick up much from his father's experiences on the PRC. If he wins the election, he said, he would recuse himself from cases involving his father's employer, Mescalero Apache Telecom Inc. As for other telecommunication issues, which could potentially affect MATI's competitors, Block Jr. said he would decide "case by case."

Last month, Block Jr. took heat when he decided to speak at a telecommunications industry conference in Mescalero rather than attending a PRC candidate forum in Los Alamos. His father also attended the conference in Southern New Mexico.

The PRC — which regulates utilities, telecommunication, utilities, telecommunications, insurance and transportation — was formed in 1998, partly because of Jerome Block Sr.'s performance alongside Eric Serna on the three-member Corporation Commission. Former state Rep. Bob Perls, D-Corrales, said he drew up the legislation "to modernize and professionalize the way we regulate."

"My exposure to both Eric Serna and Jerome Sr. is that they were way too close to industries they were supposed to be regulating, and they just weren't very independent or thoughtful about decisions that were coming down," Perls said. "I mean, it was pretty clear through much of their tenures that to get a taxi license or to get a tow permit or to do business, you had to know the right people and use the right lawyers and have the right contacts."

At the same sit-down interview in September, Block Jr. lied about what has become his most scorching campaign controversy. He had given $2,500 to longtime friend Paul Maez, the San Miguel County clerk, claiming the money was for Maez's band to perform at a campaign rally. The rally purportedly occurred in May, but the expenditure was recorded in June, and Block Jr. last month admitted there was no such performance.

In the interview, Block said 75 to 100 people attended the rally. In a later phone interview, he said four or five musicians were on stage.

The matter involves public campaign money and is now being investigated by the state Attorney General's Office, which is deciding whether to launch a criminal investigation.

Block Jr. said what he did was "negligent" but not criminal.

His mother offered a different take. "Well, you know, with the media after you and after you and after you, after a while I can see how you would fumble," Patsy Block said. "I can see how you just don't know what to say."

The incident helped cause top Democrats to distance themselves from Block Jr. Gov. Bill Richardson, Lt. Gov. Diane Denish, U.S. Rep. Tom Udall and PRC member Ben Ray Luján, who is running for Congress, have either declined to say if they will endorse Block Jr. or said they will not endorse anyone.

Block Jr. is getting the most heat in Santa Fe, where some Democrats formed a political action committee for Lass, but District 3 stretches across or into 13 counties. And in rural areas, some potential voters have heard little of Block Jr.'s troubles.

Arnold Miera, the Democratic party chairman of Harding County, said he was "not really" aware of the controversies. "I don't know that much about him, but so far I'm supportive," he said.

Tony Casados, who lives in Cebolla, near Tierra Amarilla, is president of the Northern Rio Arriba Electric Cooperative, which serves some 4,000 customers, and said he has known the Block family a long time. "I think Jerome (Jr.) is probably a guy I would classify as young," he said. "Of course, he's inexperienced, but he strikes me as having considerable common-sense abilities."

Block Jr. grew up in Santa Fe and has one sibling, Jenifer Block. He attended the New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell for a year before returning to Santa Fe, where he played basketball at St. Michael's High School.

He left Roswell, his mother said, "because I missed him. ... I just said I have two children, and I just didn't want him away from home."

Block Jr. attended New Mexico State University but dropped out after becoming a father so he could work, Patsy Block said. He has two sons, ages 12 and 6, from two prior relationships and has shared custody of the boys, she said of her son, who has been married for a year to his wife, Stephanie.

He worked as a title company manager until resigning last summer to campaign full-time for the PRC job, which pays $90,000 a year.

"He's doing fine. I mean, nobody can take his heart and his soul," Patsy Block said. "I mean, it's hard, I'm sure. But people tell him, 'You can't let us down, Jerome, you can't let us down. You got to continue, you got to continue.' "

Returning her attention to the media, she added, "The way you ask is, have we gotten to him yet?"

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