If timing is everything, Marylanders got it right in electing their first Republican governor in 36 years.

During his campaign, Gov.-elect Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. crowed about friends in high places. The four-term congressman could walk into the office of Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert at any time, he boasted. President Bush came to town and set a state fund-raising record on Ehrlich's behalf.

After the Nov. 5 vote, those friends are more influential than ever. The GOP grabbed back the U.S. Senate, kept its majority in the House of Representatives and has governors in 27 states, including Maryland. The Bush agenda received an enormous boost.

So Ehrlich has little excuse as he tries to translate campaign rhetoric into the reality of dollars and other support from Washington.

"The bottom line is, Bob Ehrlich's calls are going to get returned," said Dick Leggitt, a media consultant who has worked for Republican governors in Virginia and Tennessee. "From the White House to Capitol Hill, every Republican everywhere will want to see him be successful."

Ehrlich said he can deliver, promising that party affiliation and experience in Washington will produce "a tangible benefit for Maryland."

"It's dollars," he said, contending that Maryland has left some "federal dollars on the shelf, particularly in criminal justice, juvenile justice and health care."

His administration, he said, will detail a staff person to work exclusively on maximizing federal funds. The state's Washington office, aides say, will be staffed by a new crop of lobbyists adept at operating in a GOP environment.

Officials in Gov. Parris N. Glendening's administration counter that Maryland has done well in getting its share of federal resources, thanks largely to well-regarded members of Congress.

"The Maryland congressional delegation has done a tremendous job getting dollars for a wide range of things," said Raquel Guillory, a Glendening spokeswoman. "Because of their hard work, I don't think Maryland has fallen short."

But the election added two Democrats to the delegation, while the White House and both branches of Congress belong to the GOP.

"You're going to get down to the nitty-gritty where roads have to be built, and money has to come in," said former Rep. Helen Delich Bentley, a Republican who was defeated in her 2nd District comeback bid. "It's going to be a lot easier for [Ehrlich] to talk to chairmen of committees than it would be for his opponent."

Not everyone shares this view.

Republicans in Washington are unlikely to regard Maryland as friendly territory said Paul S. Herrnson, a government professor at the University of Maryland, College Park.

"Despite Ehrlich's success, the White House probably views this as a pretty Democratic state," Herrnson said. "Any rewards that go to Maryland will go through the two Democratic senators and the other Democratic members of Congress."

But Ehrlich could receive personal benefit from the axis of GOP control along Route 50 linking the White House and Government House.

Always a convenient location, Maryland now becomes a more attractive photo-op stop for a Republican president making policy announcements, with its telegenic governor on hand.

"That would not be a shocker," Ehrlich said, adding that President Bush told him during a call on Election Night, "Next to my brother [Florida Gov. Jeb Bush], this was a race I was following very closely."

That axis was helpful when President Clinton lived on Pennsylvania Avenue, and Democrats William Donald Schaefer and Parris N. Glendening were chief executives here, observed Del. Howard P. Rawlings of Baltimore, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.

"Empowerment zones in Baltimore is a clear example," he said.

Ehrlich's federal connections can provide a tool, other observers said, to shake up agencies packed with decades' worth of Democratic hires.

Leggitt recalls working for former Republican Virginia Gov. James S. Gilmore III after three Democratic administrations and finding a recalcitrant transportation department.

"It was literally a bureaucracy where they said, 'We've been here through other governors, and we'll be here when you're gone,' " Leggitt said. "But when you have the federal government saying you are going to lose $15 million in federal funds, it gives an encouragement."

Transportation projects are an area where Washington participation is critical. Ehrlich can leverage influence to fulfill a campaign pledge of constructing a congestion-relieving highway in Montgomery County, said Del. Robert L. Flanagan, a Howard County Republican.

"Having access to the federal government will be helpful in getting the Intercounty Connector built more expeditiously," Flanagan said."You've got to work with the EPA."

U.S. Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest, an Eastern Shore Republican, said interaction with the departments of commerce and agriculture will also improve. "You have a smooth flow of information back and forth to get things done," he said. "It will give Maryland a big advantage."

Opponents are sure to keep a close eye on how Washington treats Annapolis. If the state gets shortchanged on Medicare funds, or the Environmental Protection Agency makes an unpopular decision on the Chesapeake Bay, Ehrlich's influence will be questioned.

"Bobby Ehrlich is going to have Democrats nipping at his heels, whining about things that the federal government has done or not done," Flanagan said. "But the real success in his government is going to be in how well he manages."

Ehrlich said he is not worried.

"I don't have a magic wand," he said. "They are not going to do everything I want, obviously, but it will be more beneficial than not."