The election results ensure that the plug will not be pulled on the two projects and that O'Malley's pro-transit spending priorities will not be reversed. But the national results could complicate efforts to finance the project.

Among the casualties of the Repiblican sweep was Rep. James Oberstar of Minnesota, a powerful committee chairman with jurisdiction over transportation. With him gone, the House loses one of its  most fervent advocates of transit investment.

Traditionally, the parties manage to put theiir differences behind them when it comes to pasiing the six-year transportation reauthorization bill, which the Democrats didn't get around to when they controlled the House. It remains to be seen whether the new, more ideological Republican majority has much appetite for infrastructure spending. Even if they do, they can be expected to show the GOP''s traditional emphasis on roads over transit, which is heavily identified with cities and lower-income users. It's doubtful that federal formulas will change in a way that benefits transit.

So the best Maryland can hope for really is that the current formulas remain unchanged until the federal government can rule on its Red Line and Purple Line applications. If Maryland gets the green light, that would mean it would have to come up with its 50 percent  share, which could exceed $1 billion if both projects were approved.

With the state budget still in woeful shape and no consensus in favor of  higher transportation revenues, Maryland could need a Harry Potter to conjure up a financing plan. That decision could be a ways  down the road, however, and until then the projects can  continue the engineering process that Ehrlich would probably have defunded. By 2013, who knows what the economic and political conditions will be?