The personal is the political in Cambridge's state representative race, as the two candidates--who present the same slate of issues--go head to head.

Independent candidate and political newcomer Dennis A. Benzan will challenge incumbent Alvin E. Thompson (D-Cambridge) for a seat in the 28th Middlesex District in the upcoming November 5 election.

Despite Benzan's youth and relative inexperience, he is posing a substantial threat to Thompson's campaign--a surprising development considering the similarity of the candidates' platforms.

Both support affordable housing, universal health care and assistance for the elderly. "There are very few, if any, roll calls where [Thompson and Benzan] would differ," said Glenn S. Koocher '71, host of Cambridge's weekly political talk show "Inside-Out."

"They are both liberals, both progressives. Both buy into the Democratic agenda," he said.

So more personal issues, most notably Benzan's youth and Thompson's attendance record, have come to the forefront.

Adopting a Fighting Stance

To unseat the incumbent, Benzan is taking an aggressive stance, accusing Thompson of negligence in office.

According to the 24-year-old Benzan, the three jobs Thompson held during the past term distracted him from his representative duties.

Benzan points to Thompson's attendance record as proof.

"He's missed over 445 roll calls in the past eight years," Benzan said, adding that votes missed included several important votes on elderly housing and assault weapons.

Thompson vehemently refutes Benzan's claims.

"I have been present in the building every day on the days of votes except for [nine days in which he was hospitalized] since the beginning of my service," he said.

"My voting record for the first three terms of my office was 93 to 95 percent," Thompson said. "Other roll calls I missed were because I had permission from the speaker to vote from my desk.

Last term, the term during which he was hospitalized, Thompson voted 76 percent of the time.