Some influential Democratic lawmakers criticized yesterday the involvement of their state party chairman in helping an Indiana-based casino company pursue a racetrack casino venture in southern Prince George's County.

Michael E. Busch, the incoming House speaker, said he is concerned about Wayne L. Rogers' role as an adviser and prospective partner in Centaur Inc.'s project at Rosecroft Raceway.

The effort by Rogers to assemble a group of investors and find a lobbyist for Centaur was reported yesterday by The Sun. Rogers is concluding a four-year term as state Democratic party chairman.

Busch, an Anne Arundel County Democrat and slots opponent, said Rogers' involvement leaves the false impression that Democrats as a whole are backing proposals to allow slots at Maryland horse tracks.

He said slots are the priority of Republican Gov.-elect Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., not Democrats. Ehrlich has made legalizing slots at racetracks during the 2003 General Assembly session a key part of his plans to solve Maryland's budget woes.

Busch conceded that some key Democratic leaders, notably Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, also strongly support slots.

"I'm sure that he [Ehrlich] welcomes the support of Wayne Rogers and Mike Miller, but do not mistake that as the position of the total Democratic party or the House of Delegates," Busch said.

Busch said he respects Rogers and thinks his intentions were good, but believes that Rogers misjudged how his business relationship with Centaur would be perceived.

"I think he's a little out on a limb on this," Busch said.

Rogers' term as party chairman is due to expire at the end of this year, but there has been talk within Democratic Party circles of his staying on for several more months. Through a spokesman, Rogers declined to comment yesterday.

Sen. Brian E. Frosh, a Montgomery County Democrat, said he thinks it would be inappropriate for Rogers to serve as party chairman while working with a company that is seeking a slots license from the state.

"I don't think it's in the party's interests to have someone serving as chairman who is pursuing a private enterprise that is directly linked to government approval," said Frosh, chairman of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee. "He probably should choose which he wants to do."

Del. Elizabeth Bobo, a Howard County Democrat, also envisioned troubling conflicts if Rogers works for a casino company while serving as party chairman.

She noted that departing Gov. Parris N. Glendening and Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, who lost to Ehrlich, both strongly opposed legalizing slots.

"It is certainly a conflict, where principle is concerned, to be working against the position of the current governor and the gubernatorial candidate of your party," Bobo said. "I wouldn't want to be in a foxhole with somebody like that."

But Miller said he didn't see a conflict. "I feel the Democrats are very fortunate to have Wayne Rogers involved in the Democratic Party," Miller said. "He should not be penalized for using his business acumen while engaged in political activity. He's not getting paid to be the head of the Democratic Party."

Still, Thomas F. Schaller, a professor of political science at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, said Rogers' involvement with the casino company looks bad.

"It looks like he hedged his bet in the election by essentially making an investment that slots were coming to Maryland while his party's nominee opposed slots," Schaller said.

On Monday, Rogers acknowledged that Centaur executives had asked him in mid-October -- shortly after the company signed a deal to buy Rosecroft -- if he would advise them on hiring a lobbyist and help form a group of local investors.

Schaller said that Rogers' actions could hasten his departure as state party chairman. "What I'm hearing in Democratic Party circles is that this could be the end of his chairmanship," Schaller said.