But in her nearly two years in the state Senate, Julia Boseman, a Democrat from coastal New Hanover County, has put together a political resume that's more Bill Bennett than Barney Frank.

Last year, Boseman proposed banning sales of violent video games to children. This year, she seeks to allow people to sue drug dealers. Another of her proposals would require public schools to offer a Pledge of Allegiance recitation daily.

Boseman, 39, said that's because she is in the Senate to represent the residents of Wilmington and New Hanover County, not to push a personal agenda.

"This is not about representing me or representing some special cause," she said.

In recent months, Boseman has become the legislature's most outspoken Democratic critic of House Speaker Jim Black, a Democrat whose efforts in the legislature on behalf of the lottery, video poker, optometrists and other political supporters have been the subject of news stories and state and federal investigations over the past year.

Boseman has become the public face this year on bills that challenged policies Black had written into last year's budget.

One of Boseman's bills would repeal an item that helps chiropractors. The other would repeal a requirement that all preschoolers have complete eye exams before they start kindergarten. The Senate voted unanimously Thursday to repeal the eye exam requirement, though the House has not agreed to go along.

Boseman does not participate much in Senate debates. She said an experienced senator advised her soon after she was elected in November 2004 that "grandstanding is not looked well upon."

High-profile issues and her success in channeling state money to UNC-Wilmington and winning incentives for the local film industry helped Boseman achieve the rank of 20th most effective senator, out of 50, in a survey conducted by a Raleigh public policy center. It was the second-highest ranking for a freshman in the history of the survey, and was the highest ranking ever for a female freshman.

Who's behind it?

Senate Republicans look at Boseman's legislative record and see behind it the hands of Democratic leaders. Republicans initially complained about her Pledge of Allegiance bill -- not because they didn't like it, but because it was nearly identical to a measure filed earlier by a Raleigh Republican.

"She's been given a lot of bills -- and the important word is given -- for a freshman," said Sen. Tom Apodaca, a Republican leader. "I haven't seen many of them signed into law."

Boseman says that she decides what bills she will file, and that her decisions stem from constituents' interests. For example, a Wilmington couple asked her to sponsor a measure to allow former drug addicts and others to sue drug dealers.

Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand, a Fayetteville Democrat, said Boseman is guiding her own career.

"She's an experienced politician," Rand said. "I think she's worked hard at it because she knows she's in a tough district."

In 2004, Boseman was completing a four-year term as a New Hanover County commissioner, where she was the only Democrat on the five-member board, when she signed up to run for the state Senate. She challenged Woody White, a Wilmington lawyer who was appointed to the seat after Patrick Ballantine resigned to spend more time on his unsuccessful campaign for governor. The seat had been in Republican hands for more than a decade.

New Hanover has 48,289 registered Democrats and 48,686 registered Republicans, according to the State Board of Elections' latest numbers. Unaffiliated voters number about 29,500.

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