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.

"Democrats no longer have an edge in this district," said Susan Bulluck, a pollster and Democrat who lives in Wilmington. "Any Democrat who wants to run has to run in the middle and has to pick up a substantial number of unaffiliated or independent voters."

Boseman, a real estate lawyer, won the seat by 885 votes out of more than 80,000 cast. It's a district Republicans would love to win back and Democrats are dying to keep as both parties fight this year for control of the Senate. Democrats hold a 29-21 edge in the Senate. The election is Nov. 7.

Briefly, Topic A

Boseman's sexual orientation became Topic A in the final days of her Senate race. It was the subject of Republican newspaper ads and mailers. GOP leaders said campaign contributions she accepted from the national Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund meant Boseman would push to legalize gay marriage in the state.

Boseman hasn't shown public interest in gay marriage laws or proposals to expand hate crime and anti-discrimination statutes to include gays.

She shouldn't be expected to, said Chris Fitzsimon, director of N.C. Policy Watch, a Raleigh-based public policy organization.

"I don't think it's Julia Boseman's job to go to the state Senate and represent all gay interests just because she is a lesbian who is not hiding her sexuality," he said. "There's more of a magnifying glass on her because of that."

For all the questions about how the clubby and mostly male legislature would greet its first openly gay member, it may be that the most important indicators for success on Jones Street are the abbreviated title before your name and the 'D,' as in Democrat, after it. Boseman says colleagues and lobbyists have treated her like every other lawmaker.

"Probably one of the biggest surprises coming in after my election, especially because it was so hateful and nasty, was gosh, people are nice," she said. "A lot of these folks have become like second family to me."

Chris Dean, chairman of the New Hanover County GOP, said he won't make Boseman's sexuality an issue in this year's election.

"Even though I don't agree with it, it won't be an issue," he said. "Most of the electorate know, and a lot of them don't care."

Republicans can win the seat back, Dean said, by focusing on Boseman's record and the qualifications of their own candidate.

Sherman Lee Criner, a Wilmington lawyer, is Boseman's opponent. He enters the race with issues, too. The SBI is investigating an allegation that Criner took indecent liberties with a child.

Criner did not return telephone calls, but Dean said a local social services department has concluded the allegation was unfounded.

Apodaca, the Republican leader, said it is not certain Criner will stay in the race.

Boseman talks of whisper campaigns in her first two elections that exploded into full-fledged ads and mail 19 months ago.

Indications are the whispers are starting again.

"I think politics is a tough business," she said, "and I'm not going to comment on what they're doing."

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