By David Nather, CQ Staff

As a Republican state senator from Massachusetts, Richard R. Tisei could be expected to be among Mitt Romney ’s most enthusiastic supporters. And as the assistant Senate minority leader during Romney’s four years as governor, which ended in January, Tisei had a common interest with Romney in advancing a GOP agenda through an overwhelmingly Democratic legislature.

But Tisei is now one of Romney’s harshest critics. “Of all of the governors I’ve served with, the one who had the least interaction with the legislature was Gov. Romney,” said Tisei, who has been a member of the Massachusetts legislature since 1985 and is now the state Senate minority leader. “The legislature was the enemy from Day One, and it limited the amount that he was able to accomplish.”

Tisei is one of only five Republicans among the 40 state senators, and he’s one of three of the five who have endorsed Rudy Giuliani rather than their home-state colleague. Brian Lees, who was the minority leader during Romney’s term, is also supporting Giuliani.

IN THE RUNNING: Romney, campaigning in Santa Clara, Calif., on Sept. 24, has been gaining in national polls. (GETTY IMAGES / JUSTIN SULLIVAN)

Lawmakers from both parties say Romney treated the Massachusetts legislature at best as something to be avoided — and, at worst, as a group of people to be bossed around.

“I think he came into government not A-really understanding how the branches are supposed to work together,” said Democratic state Rep. Patricia Walrath, one of the lead negotiators of the 2006 medical insurance coverage plan that became Romney’s main achievement as governor. “I’m not sure he ever truly got out of that mode.”

Tisei says he believes that Romney’s attitude toward the legislature was shaped by his experience as the founder of a venture capital firm and the chief executive officer of a management consulting firm. “He’s used to being the CEO of a company where you just order people around,” he said. “I have a business myself, and it’s great because you get to make all the decisions. But that’s not how the government runs.”

Spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom, though, said Romney “respects the fact that the legislative branch is an equal partner,” and was able to score other successes as governor, such as closing a $3 billion budget deficit and cutting taxes — despite the lopsided Democratic legislative majority. Fehrnstrom said Tisei and Lees are supporting Giuliani because they share more liberal views than Romney’s on social issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage.

If he becomes president, though, Romney himself has suggested that he will bring a strong view of executive power to the office, at least on national security issues such as eavesdropping on suspected terrorists. “If it means we have to go into a mosque to wiretap, or a church, then that’s exactly where we’re going to go, because we’re going to do whatever it takes to protect the American people,” he said during a debate with other Republican presidential candidates at the University of New Hampshire in September.

But he was ridiculed, particularly by rivals Giuliani and John McCain , for suggesting during an October debate in Dearborn, Mich., that before launching any military strikes against Iran, he would consult with attorneys to determine whether he would need congressional authorization.

During the first two years of his term, Romney was known mainly for reaching a deal with the legislature to close a fiscal shortfall, but lawmakers rejected many of his proposals, such as consolidating the court system and breaking up the University of Massachusetts system.

After that, Romney recruited a slate of Republicans for the 2004 elections to try to unseat Democrats who were resisting his initiatives. Instead, his party lost seats. So the next year, by most accounts, Romney became more actively engaged with the legislature, particularly on the issue that would become his signature accomplishment: universal health care.

“He came to people like me and others and said, ‘Hey, we want to do health care, what do you think?’ ” says Democratic state Sen. Mark C. Montigny. “He sat and listened. I can tell you I was never in a room with him where he seemed uncomfortable. I think he was uncomfortable with the theory, as in, ‘I don’t want to get stuck in the back rooms.’ ”

Even then, however, other lawmakers say Romney’s overtures were less about negotiating than dictating terms. In a widely covered visit in January 2006 to the homes of House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi and Senate President Robert E. Travaglini — both veteran Boston politicians — Romney hand-delivered letters to ask them to help end a stalemate over the plan, but also to spell out what he would accept and what he wouldn’t.

“He did work with us more closely,” said Walrath, but “it was more, ‘This is how I want it,’ rather than, ‘Let’s sit down and work this out.’ ”

Eventually, the two sides reached a deal on an innovative plan to require all Massachusetts residents to obtain health insurance. But just before the signing ceremony in Boston’s Faneuil Hall, Romney announced — without telling the Democratic legislative leaders first — that he had vetoed a section of the bill that imposed a $295-per-person fee on employers who didn’t provide health insurance, a crucial part of the compromise.

The legislature easily overrode his veto and enacted that part of the law anyway, but the political damage had been done. “It was a huge surprise. We had no clue,” said Walrath. “If we’d known that, we never would have shown up.”

Romney did have weekly meetings with legislative leaders from both parties, and he had a strong relationship with many of the Republicans, particularly in the House. “I do feel that I was able to contribute my advice, criticism, concerns, thoughts on a regular basis,” said state House Minority Leader Bradley H. Jones Jr., who is supporting Romney’s presidential bid.

Thomas Whalen, an expert on Massachusetts politics at Boston University, doesn’t see Romney as a governor who tried to issue orders. He just thinks Romney preferred to ignore the legislature entirely. “He didn’t do very much. He mostly just worked on the margins,” Whalen said. “This was like a nice little road stop for him on the way to the presidency.”