By George P. Hassett

In the midst of election season, state Senator Pat Jehlen is trying to balance the drawbacks of political incumbency and the appeal of job experience.

“I feel upset that I have a lot longer life and record to defend. But I also have more experience,” Jehlen, a Democrat, said of the issues surrounding her reelection campaign against political newcomer Dave Carnevale, 25, a Republican.

Jehlen won her senate seat in 2005 after 14 years as a state representative.

In her campaign, Jehlen said she has met with voters over coffee and canvassed neighborhoods in the senate district, which includes Medford, Winchester, most of Somerville and parts of Woburn.

She said voters have brought up her vote against expanded gambling in the state. Casinos would have had a net economic loss, she said.

“The social costs would have outweighed the benefits,” she said. “But information doesn’t always persuade people.”

Jehlen pointed to work experience at Boston University and Harvard University in response to Carnevale’s charge that she “never had a private sector job.”

“It’s not as if I’m isolated from the experiences of people who live in the communities I represent,” she said. “My job is to try and represent the people in my community.”

Jehlen said she is touting her work on the Green line extension, Assembly Square development, the Mystic Dam repairs, a foreclosure bill that protected tenants and an increase in personal needs allowances for seniors, to voters on the campaign trail.

“The people that come and talk to me about their concerns aren’t just upset at government excess,” she said.