By Tim Craig
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 7, 2006

Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) unleashed a searing attack on the Democrat-controlled General Assembly yesterday, telling a group of business leaders that some legislators have been so disrespectful of him that it's time to vote them out of office.

The tone of Ehrlich's remarks, which came during a question-and-answer session, was in marked contrast to his scripted State of the State address two weeks ago. Then, he pledged to cooperate with Democrats and help end "Capitol Hill-style" politics.

Ehrlich was less than conciliatory yesterday at a Montgomery County event. He complained that the legislature overrode a record number of vetoes this year and urged business leaders to help him get political payback in the November elections.

"Some of these votes are meant to embarrass me and the administration," said Ehrlich, a former congressman from Baltimore County who in 2002 became Maryland's first Republican governor in a generation. "I didn't leave Capitol Hill to be needlessly embarrassed. . . . I am tired of it. I am tired of it."

Ehrlich, who is preparing a reelection strategy in part based on the state's strong economy, urged business leaders to withhold financial backing for candidates who have not supported his administration's policies.

"The era of [lawmakers] shaking you down for checks and then voting against your interests" is over, Ehrlich said at a lunch sponsored by the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce and the Tech Council of Maryland. "Look at how people vote and act accordingly."

Ehrlich made his comments near the end of the event, after he was asked if there was anything else he wanted to say. The governor's unscripted remarks resembled his 2005 State of the State address, in which he strayed from a prepared text and spent six minutes lecturing legislators about respect.

Several Democratic legislators who attended yesterday's event were surprised by Ehrlich's comments.

"He's taking a lot of things personally," said Del. Joan F. Stern (Montgomery).

Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (Calvert) wasn't at the event, but he said in an interview that he suspects Ehrlich is growing desperate because polls show he faces a tough election matchup against one of his possible Democratic opponents, Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley or Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan.

"He talks tough when he talks to conservative businessmen who write checks, but when he talks to educators, health care workers or environmentalists, he talks about conciliation," Miller said. "He could have been having a bad day."

Duncan, who attended the speech, called it "a campaign-style trashing of the General Assembly."

But some in the crowd cheered Ehrlich's comments.

"There is horrific public policy being made in Annapolis," said Christopher B. Summers, president of the Maryland Public Policy Institute, a conservative think tank. "Today, Ehrlich fired a shot across the business community's bow."

Ehrlich has made a concerted effort over the years to enlist business leaders and other traditional Republican allies in his quest to break Democrats' grip on the General Assembly.

Besides Ehrlich's own reelection bid, he and state GOP leaders are focused on trying to pick up as many as 14 seats in the House of Delegates and seven in the Senate in order to make it more difficult for Democrats to override vetoes. Democrats hold a 19-seat advantage in the Senate and a 55-seat edge in the House of Delegates.

In 2004, Ehrlich challenged the Maryland Chamber of Commerce to "get dangerous" by becoming more involved in state politics -- a theme he has repeated to home builders and conservative interest groups.

The governor's frustration with the General Assembly appears to be growing.

In the past month, the legislature overrode 17 of Ehrlich's vetoes, including his opposition to a $1 increase in the minimum wage (to $6.15 an hour) and a controversial proposal to require Wal-Mart and similarly sized companies to spend more on employee health care.

"I cannot and do not measure the damage done to our state," he said. "It's immeasurable."

In yesterday's speech, Ehrlich stressed the state's low unemployment rate and said Maryland had created 100,000 jobs since he took office. He also promised that construction will begin this year on the proposed intercounty connector highway and took credit for blocking plans for $7.5 billion in new taxes.