One evening last month in a ninth-floor conference room at 1700 Pennsylvania Ave. overlooking Washington's Mall, ex-congressmen and lobbyists milled around with hors d'oeuvres and glasses of wine, waiting to pay tribute - and campaign cash - to former U.S. Rep. Helen Delich Bentley.

It's the kind of crowd expected for a former five-term representative trying a comeback in a year when control of the House of Representatives is expected to hinge on a few races.

Bentley's connections to the Washington establishment and her ability to capitalize on those ties are key factors separating her from the Democrats in the 2nd District race.

Campaign finance reports released this week show that those ties are paying off. She raised more money than Baltimore County Executive C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger, the Democratic front-runner, from current and former members of Congress and their political action committees. In the past three months, she has received $46,200 from those sources to Ruppersberger's $35,500, which includes $1,000 from Rahm Emanuel, a former Clinton administration official who is running for Congress in Chicago.

But the overall value of her Washington connections remains to be seen. Ruppersberger has raised twice as much money, receiving more than Bentley from individuals and labor groups. And his supporters say Bentley is overplaying the importance of GOP promises that she would be given a seat on the powerful House Appropriations Committee and that her seniority would be restored.

Ruppersberger is emphasizing his experience in county government and vowing to concentrate on issues of local importance, such as infrastructure and neighborhood revitalization.

Ruppersberger's chief antagonist in the primary, investment banker Oz Bengur, says he would push traditional Democratic issues such as education and access to health care.

But much of Bengur's campaign has focused on criticizing the county executive's record, particularly a property condemnation initiative - backed by Ruppersberger but defeated by voters in a referendum - that would have been used to rebuild aging communities. The other Democrat who is actively campaigning, Kenneth T. Bosley, is following a similar course.

'Immediate juice'

In her speeches, Bentley emphasizes her five terms in Congress and her ability to get things done. The promise by House Speaker Dennis Hastert, an Illinois Republican, to give her a seat on the Appropriations Committee with seniority from her previous stint in Congress will allow her to lobby for Maryland in a way none of the other candidates could, she said.

"I do not have to take time to get to know people," she said. "I know them."

Republican leaders are eagerly supporting her candidacy.

"Seriously, people love her," said Wayne Valis, a Republican lobbyist who was the host of the recent Washington fund-raiser. "You will soon see all the powers that be in the Republican Party coming into Maryland and saying, 'We love Helen. We don't always agree with her and she's a little tough on us, but we love her.' And when she comes back, she's going to make things happen. She's going to have immediate juice in Washington."

Bentley's supporters

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Christine Todd Whitman will visit Baltimore for a Bentley fund-raiser on Aug. 28. Rep. Thomas M. Davis III of Virginia, the National Republican Congressional Committee chairman, has spoken on her behalf.

"I would help Helen Bentley if we were 30 seats in the minority or 30 seats in the majority," said Rep. Duncan Hunter, a California Republican and senior member of the House Armed Services Committee. "She's a person of great quality and character - she is a character - and we like her."

Hunter and others said they admire Bentley's unwavering tenacity. Thomas J. Bliley Jr., a former Republican congressman from Virginia and now a lobbyist, said Bentley was a strong legislator and competitor.

Bliley said that when he was in the House there were three other members he never would have wanted to run against: Ohio Democrat James A. Traficant Jr. (before his recent conviction on charges of racketeering, obstructing justice and accepting bribes), Massachusetts Democrat Barney Frank, and Bentley.

"These guys, they're tough," Bliley said. "You may win, but you'll know you've been in a hell of a fight."

For his part, Ruppersberger points to his connections to Rep. Steny H. Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat and member of the House Appropriations Committee, and Rep. Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat and House minority whip.

Ruppersberger's corner

Hoyer was host of a $50,000 fund-raiser for Ruppersberger last month. Pelosi was the guest of honor at Ruppersberger's Camden Yards fund-raiser later in the month, and her political action committee gave him $10,000.

Ruppersberger also says he knows the House minority leader, Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri, and has spoken with him about the 2nd District race.

Ruppersberger's relationship with Gephardt, though, doesn't quite match Bentley's with Hastert. The House speaker came to one of her fund-raisers in Washington, sneaked up behind her and gave her a bear hug - plus a check for $10,000 from his political action committee.

But Hoyer said he and the rest of the state's delegation are behind Ruppersberger and believe he'll be a good legislator "for a number of decades." Bentley's talk about the importance of a seat on the Appropriations Committee is overblown, he said.

"I sit on appropriations, and I think we can serve Maryland pretty well. I think we do. Both Senator [Barbara A.] Mikulski and I are on appropriations, so the fact that there's been a promise to the seat in this case is much less relevant," Hoyer said. "Maryland is already pretty well-situated."

Bentley said she is perplexed by Hoyer's suggestion that Maryland would not be better served with another appropriations seat, which would place it in a tie for the sixth most powerful presence on the committees that guide federal discretionary spending.

'A strong reference'

Meanwhile, the Ruppersberger camp has bolstered its national political experience with a new manager, Jim Cauley. Campaign insiders have complained over the past few months about the difficult transition from a county executive-style race to a congressional race, in particular, adapting to the much tougher federal fund-raising rules.

Ruppersberger said he first resisted calls from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee to hire a national campaign and fund-raising expert. Interviews with a couple of prospects made him even more reluctant.

But a few weeks ago, Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley called Ruppersberger and recommended Cauley, a veteran of dozens of local, state and federal campaigns, including O'Malley's 1999 mayoral run.

"I believe Jim Cauley had already been talking to Dutch Ruppersberger when I provided a strong reference for him," O'Malley said. "He is a very skilled and smart person."

Now the campaign committee has endorsed Ruppersberger in the Democratic primary.

'Politics is networking'

As for his ability to get things done in Congress, Ruppersberger emphasizes his experience in getting the county's legislative delegation behind his agenda to win support from Annapolis for funding and policy proposals.

"A lot of politics is networking, and I've always done pretty well at that," he said.

Bengur, who has the fewest political connections of the three Democrats, said Bentley's efforts to advertise her seat on appropriations and her ability to move legislation will backfire.

"She's going to be on the committee, but what's she going to do on the committee? She's going to cut programs. That's what Republicans do," Bengur said. "She has promises about clout, but to do what, to cut spending and not take care of health care needs of seniors, of people who are uninsured?"