Delegates seeking to unseat state Senators from their own party usually attempt to persuade voters the incumbents they’re targeting voted the wrong way on major issues, hold views that are contrary to the constituents they represent, or are simply “ineffective” at navigating the 90-day melee that is the Maryland General Assembly.

Such is not the case in the race for the Maryland Senate in Prince George’s County’s 24th District. In a debate on TBD TV’s “NewsTalk” Tuesday morning, challenger Joanne Benson said precious little about the man she’s trying to oust in the September 14th Democratic primary, Sen. Nathaniel Exum. Instead, she declared without apology that her goal is to add some gender diversity to the county’s Senate delegation, which currently includes eight men and no women.

Benson said the issues facing the county – education, health care, and domestic violence, in her view – require that women “have a seat at the table.”

Exum, for his part, said he’s got a good voting record when it comes to issues of importance to women and families. And he said he’s been an effective legislator in his 36 years in Annapolis, noting his work as Senate chairman of the committee that handles Workers Compensation issues and his efforts to help a local affordable housing group navigate the state’s bureaucracy.

Give a listen:

Also Tuesday, Scott Wheeler, executive director of the National Republican Trust, and the Rev. Amanda Poppei of the Washington Ethical Society, debated the proposed mosque in New York.

Wheeler said the group looking to open an Islamic community center near Ground Zero doesn’t pose a physical threat to the neighborhood, but he believes they should be denied the symbolic victory the mosque would represent. Poppei countered that the U.S. tradition of religious tolerance requires the city to allow the mosque.

Here’s a portion of that debate.

Wednesday at 10am on NewsTalk: Montgomery County Councilmember Roger Berliner (D-Bethesda) talks about the Maryland Public Service Commission’s hearing on the recent rash of power outages. And Sen. Jennie Forehand (D-District 17) debates challenger Cheryl Kagan (D), a former state Delegate.