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The man had a question and a hint for Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.

"Will you run again? And what will we at the grass-roots level do to encourage you to run again?" he asked the former governor, who found himself among friends at a Republican Club of Leisure World meeting in Aspen Hill on Monday.

Faced with declines in voter registration and Democratic gains in the 2006 and 2008 elections, Republican Party leaders around Maryland are asking similar questions.

As they look to 2010, the party is focusing on what it can do to encourage qualified candidates to run and what it can do to help them win.

They are also focusing on building what Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold (R) described as "a grass-roots farm team" from which to train and promote candidates.

With more than 60 years of experience in elected office between them, Leopold and Harford County Executive David R. Craig (R) plan to travel the state to train and advise Republican candidates in campaign organization and strategy, marketing, fundraising and getting out the vote.

The "Fill the Boat" campaign is modeled after a similar effort during the late 1980s led by then-delegate Robert L. Flanagan and the late senator Robert H. Kittleman.

In 1994, Republican Ellen R. Sauerbrey came within less than a percentage point of defeating Parris N. Glendening (D) for governor, and Republicans made gains in the General Assembly as voters nationwide registered dissatisfaction with President Clinton and the Democratic-controlled Congress.

Republicans are hoping for a repeat in 2010.

"I think a perfect storm is coming where we're going to have something like we saw in '94, where you have people who are very upset about the liberal expansion of government, plus a lot of qualified candidates," said Senate Minority Leader Allan H. Kittleman, whose father led the first "Fill the Boat" effort.

Republicans, including Kittleman (R-Dist. 9) of West Friendship, expressed hope that "tea party" tax protests held around the state and the country in recent days could be the start of a movement in the GOP's direction.

"Democrats are going to have to defend their vote for tax increases," Kittleman said.

Republicans, officials agree, need to mobilize voters.

Outmaneuvered in 2008 by a Barack Obama campaign that harnessed new technology like text messaging, Facebook, Twitter and blast e-mail fundraising, Republican officials are focusing on training campaigns on how to use the communication tools to their benefit.

"I don't think Democrats won the elections in 2006, in '08, as much as the Republicans lost them through weak candidates, inept strategies," said Craig, a veteran of 17 election campaigns.

In Baltimore County, with County Executive Jim Smith (D) facing term limits and Sen. Andrew P. Harris (R-Dist. 7) of Cockeysville planning for a rematch in the 1st Congressional District with U.S. Rep. Frank M. Kratovil Jr. (D) of Stevensville, open seats will be available and up for grabs.

Republicans are expecting "quite a shake-up," said Chris Cavey, the county's Republican Central Committee chairman.

Last month, the county party launched a recruitment campaign that hopes to reach 20,000 voters by phone or door-to-door by October.

"The best thing we can give any Republican, whether it be challenger or elected official, is more Republican voters," Cavey said.

But increasing voter rolls is only the first step toward reviving the Republican Party in Maryland.

The next step is "winning a race — a Senate race or a governor's race, a big race, a statewide race, a comptroller's race," Ehrlich said. "The discussion is how to get there."

It is a matter of "the right candidate in the right cycle, the right race," he said.

Ehrlich said he has not yet decided whether he is the right candidate or if the potential 2010 gubernatorial battle is the right race, although he cited his nearly 60 percent approval rating when he lost the 2006 election to Martin O'Malley (D).

A statewide election in Maryland is a challenge for any Republican, Leopold said. His suggestion: start small.

"Throughout the state, there are a number of legislative districts and councilmanic districts where Republicans have realistic opportunities to win campaigns," he said.

Craig agreed that to build a farm team the party needs to begin at the lower levels.

"I'm always amazed by somebody that says, ‘I'm going to run for the U.S. Senate,'" he said. "Well, that's nice. What have you done for the last 30 years that got you ready to run for the U.S. Senate?"

Candidates should start in lower-level, even nonpartisan, elections, where they can learn from the experience and voters can learn their name, he said.

"Maybe you can't win the House of Delegates [race], but maybe you can win in Poolesville and get your name recognition there," he said.