ROGAN-SCHIFF RUN CLOSE, COSTLY RACE.

Byline: Jennifer Hamm Staff Writer

Rep. James Rogan knew that leading the impeachment case against President Clinton might cost him his own job.

The 43-year-old Republican congressman was right. Democrats lined up to throw their support behind state Sen. Adam Schiff to unseat Rogan as payback and part of a larger effort to take control of Congress back from the GOP.

``If I lose because of impeachment, I won't be surprised, but I won't be sorry,'' said Rogan, who prides himself on his ability to swallow the sour pill.

``This job belongs to the voters. It doesn't belong to me. What does belong to me is my integrity. I owe the voters a lot as their congressman, but I don't owe them my conscience.''

The political fallout from Rogan's role in the impeachment is drawing national attention and national money - with more than $9 million pouring into the two campaigns, shattering the congressional record - because the 27th Congressional District is one of a relative handful of races that could determine which party has a House majority.

In challenging Rogan, Schiff asserts that the incumbent's values and political beliefs prevent him from acting in the best interest of the district.

``You have to ask yourself, If Jim Rogan doesn't represent his district, who does he represent?'' Schiff said. ``We need a representative who is more representative of the mainstream values of our communities.''

Schiff said he has reached out to work with legislators in both parties and better reflects the views of the constituents in the congressional district.

Once a conservative stronghold, the 27th District has grown increasingly Democratic. Democratic voters now outnumber GOP voters in the district, which includes parts of the east San Fernando Valley, Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena, South Pasadena and nearby communities.

``I've been able to work in a bipartisan way. I've never lost focus on the fact that this is a service job, and I've gotten good results for my district,'' said Schiff, 40, a state senator since 1996 and a former federal prosecutor.

Each candidate says education is his top priority.

Schiff believes the key to improving public education is increased spending and more accountability. As state senator, he has supported reducing class size, ending social promotion and requiring a high school exit exam. More also must be done to improve teacher quality, he said.

``The best change we can make in public education is better compensation for teachers - and make it easier to get rid of those that aren't doing their job,'' Schiff said.

Rogan supports giving teachers merit pay, ending social promotion and requiring teacher-competency tests. He argues that Schiff will never make effective changes in the classroom because he is an ally of teachers' unions. Rogan wants to weaken the powers of the unions to end tenure and make it easier to get rid of poor-performing teachers.

``The time has come for people who really care about schools and really care about education to say we're going to stop being intimidated by these unions, we're going to put kids first, and we're going to reward good teachers. And that's how you save public schools,'' Rogan said.

``The teachers unions and the Democratic party that protects them have done more to trap black and Hispanic kids in failing schools and keep them from being able to compete than Jim Crow laws could have ever done to these kids in another era.''

Similar comments by Rogan on a different topic, as reported last week in the Washington publication Roll Call, sparked demands for an apology. In an interview about abortion, Rogan - who is opposed to abortion - compared its impact on the African-American population to that of the Ku Klux Klan.

The Congressional Black Caucus and Rep. Richard Gephardt, D-Mo., eager to become speaker if Democrats can regain control of the House, on Friday demanded that Rogan apologize for his remark about the KKK. Rogan refused.

His campaign spokesman, calling the flap political theatrics, said Rogan made similar comments days earlier at a breakfast for African-American supporters and no one, including Lt. Gov. Joe Rogers of Colorado, complained.

``Special interests continue to launch misleading attacks against Congressman Rogan, not based on facts but ignorance,'' said Rogan's campaign manager, Jason Roe.

Other issues also come in for attention in the campaign. On Social Security, the candidates offer different solutions. Rogan favors a form of privatization, allowing individuals to invest 2 percent of their Social Security taxes.

Schiff wants to pour some of the budget surplus into paying down the national debt, to lower interest payments, and then use the savings ``to further bolster Social Security.''

The race is tight, analysts say. The last four polls the Schiff campaign has conducted show he is ahead between six and 10 points, said Parke Skelton, campaign consultant. Rogan's recent polling indicates he is leading by three points, Roe said.

Because the race is likely to come down to a few votes, campaigners are pulling out all the stops - including celebrity endorsements and high- profile fund-raisers.

Among those coming out for Schiff have been recording and movie mogul David Geffen, Sen. Barbara Boxer and Gov. Gray Davis.

Meanwhile, former President George Bush, Sen. John McCain of Arizona and Elizabeth Dole have hosted lucrative fund-raisers for Rogan.

With $9.3 million raised by the two candidates by the end of September - to say nothing of expenditures by independent groups supporting or opposing one candidate or the other - the Rogan-Schiff campaign already has shattered the $8 million record for a House campaign set in 1996 in the re-election of former Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga.

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Box: 27TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT