NO REST FOR BLOCK, BACA; RUNOFF MEANS MONTHS OF CAMPAIGNING.

Byline: Lee Condon Daily News Staff Writer

Sheriff Sherman Block faced the prospect Wednesday of five more months on the campaign trail after being forced into a runoff election for the first time in his 16 years as the county's top law enforcement officer.

``I'm up for it. It's going to take getting out there aggressively and make sure voters have factual information about the department,'' Block said. ``I intend to give it all I've got.''

Lee Baca, a high-ranking Sheriff's Department chief who forced the runoff, said he hopes the next phase of the campaign is not as negative as the primary.

``A divisive campaign will not serve the Sheriff's Department well,'' Baca said. ``I'm talking to my supporters and looking at all the aspects of what this campaign means to the Sheriff's Department.''

With Block taking 35.9 percent to Baca's 32.2 percent, the sheriff's race will be one of the most competitive on the November ballot.

``The conventional wisdom is that if you're an incumbent running in a county race and you're forced into a runoff, then you're in serious trouble,'' said Republican consultant Alan Hoffenblum. ``It's going to be a tough race.''

To win, the sheriff's campaign needs to become more aggressive, said Rick Taylor, a campaign consultant who worked for retired Sheriff's Department Chief Bill Baker, in the primary.

Taylor said those who believe Block is finished just because he didn't win the primary are forgetting that in 1996 Los Angeles District Attorney Gil Garcetti fought off challenger John Lynch after being forced into a runoff.

But if Baca is to have a shot at victory, he can waste no time before taking a far more combative attitude, Taylor said.

``The Baca campaign has to go after Block and go after him hard in the same way Gil Garcetti went after John Lynch,'' he said. ``It has to become a much more attack-oriented campaign.''

While Baker attacked Block on department mismanagement issues, Baca has said he is only running because of Block's health problems.

Block, 73, has survived two bouts with cancer and now undergoes dialysis three times a week because of kidney failure.

``Baca has to become less of an apologist for the department,'' Taylor said. ``He's got to move forward with a new message. If you're not tough enough to be a candidate, you're not tough enough to be sheriff.''

Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, a political science professor at Claremont Graduate School's Center for Policy and Politics, said Block's narrow margin of victory in the primary shows Baca could win.

``It's highly uncomfortable for an incumbent to be forced into a runoff by such a narrow margin,'' Jeffe said. ``Block is nowhere near home free.''

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2 Photos

PHOTO (1) BACA

(2) BLOCK