For the first time in 28 years, the Maryland Republican Party has arrived as a power to be reckoned with.
Riding the national tide of GOP fever and anti-incumbent sentiment, the party was able Nov. 8 to increase its numbers to 15 in the Maryland Senate and 41 in the House of Delegates -- the most significant Republican presence in the legislature since 1920.
And the GOP came within a few thousand votes of electing a governor in Ellen R. Sauerbrey, who would have been the first Republican to be sent to the second floor of the State House since 1966, when Spiro T. Agnew was voted in.
So what do they do?
Well, like the Democrats, they fight among themselves.
As the party prepares for its semi-annual state convention this weekend, a couple of rifts have surfaced -- the most noticeable being a resolution signed by the majority of county central
committee chairs asking outgoing U.S. Rep. Helen Delich Bentley to step down as national committeewoman.
"This is not a split in the party," said one GOP activist. "This is really just a lot of people angry at Helen for not supporting Ellen in the general."
Mrs. Bentley and Mrs. Sauerbrey have been going at it since the last convention in May, when they first publicly squared off in what turned out to be a bitter primary fight full of skirmishes.
The party regulars, who are generally unaccustomed to contested primaries, much less ugly ones, were a little squeamish at this unpleasantness -- which the Democrats routinely and matter-of-factly label "politics."
But now, in the wake of Mrs. Sauerbrey's apparent loss to Democrat Parris N. Glendening -- though a zealous effort to prove unspecific allegations of voter fraud continues -- her supporters are turning up the heat, asserting that Mrs. Bentley could have made the difference.
In particular, they feel that the 2nd District congresswoman could have squeezed more votes out of eastern Baltimore County -- where she has enjoyed strong support over the years from cross-over Democrats -- and perhaps pushed Mrs. Sauerbrey ahead of Mr. Glendening.
Mrs. Bentley -- who has no intention of stepping down -- takes issue with her critics' charges that she could have cost Mrs. Sauerbrey the election. "Tell them to go fly," she said this week.
The often ill-tempered and sharp-tongued congresswoman arguably has been the most visible party leader in Maryland during what could only be called the dry years of the GOP. Now, she is frustrated and "hurt" by the move against her. And she believes that she has good reason to be.
She is widely credited with saving the party in 1986 from what more mainstream Republicans viewed as conservative extremists. And, Mrs. Bentley said, she has raised $9 million for the GOP and individual candidates over the years, worked for Republican candidates and registered new voters.
She also laid claim to spearheading the Republican efforts -- and successes -- in the congressional and legislative redistricting after the 1990 Census. (She does acknowledge the help of Democratic Gov. William Donald Schaefer, an old ally whose friendship also has won her the scorn of fellow Republicans.)
And, in the wake of the general election, Mrs. Bentley is pledging to raise money for the party's Election Inquiry Fund, which is financing the investigation into irregularities in the governor's race.
So, she wants to know, what's the problem?
"There has been no other elected official, Republican, who has given as much to the party as I have," Mrs. Bentley said.
Even if the resolution were passed, Mrs. Bentley could not be forced to step down as national committeewoman. But don't expect her to stand by quietly. She is not saying what might be up her sleeve, but a fight is expected when the resolution comes to the convention floor Saturday morning.
"Well, we're not going to be throwing chairs," Richard A. Sossi, chairman of the Queen Anne's County central committee. "After all, we're Republicans."