Republican gubernatorial candidate Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. has formally endorsed Steven H. Adler for Howard County executive, according to a statement issued by the Ehrlich campaign yesterday.

Adler is backed by the county's Republican Party organization, though he faces a challenge in Tuesday's primary election from fellow Republican Clark J. Schoeffield.

C. Vernon Gray, a Democrat running for state Senate in District 13, has also won two endorsements: from the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees, Council 92, and from the Maryland Friends of Agriculture Fund, the political action committee of the Maryland Farm Bureau.