Those who watched Thursday’s televised debate between former Gov. Larry Hogan and Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks, especially those paying attention to Maryland’s U.S. Senate race, probably weren’t surprised by what they heard. On one side was the familiar presence of the two-term GOP governor, who has elevated his national profile in recent years as a staunch critic of former President Donald Trump. On the other, a former prosecutor whose views dovetail neatly with those of Vice President Kamala Harris and the Democratic Party. She also represents an opportunity for Maryland to elect a Black woman to the U.S. Senate, a first for the state and only the fourth in the chamber’s history.

But on issue after issue raised on the hour-long Maryland Public Television production, the candidates stood on familiar ground. Alsobrooks touted her strong advocacy for abortion rights, contraception and IVF. Hogan said he would support codifying Roe v. Wade, too. Hogan emphasized his independence and willingness to challenge the party line. “I don’t care about red or blue. I care about the red, white and blue,” he said at one point. Yet, as Alsobrooks responded, Hogan’s election could give the Republican Party control of the Senate, which, despite his claims of independence, might enable parts of the Trump agenda.

Curiously, the Democratic candidate’s personal finances received only brief attention, and only when a journalist asked her about property tax benefits she received in Maryland and Washington, D.C., but wasn’t entitled to. She acknowledged errors were made, said they were not intentional and noted, as has been widely reported, that she is in the process of paying them back. Hogan, for his part, chose not to make more of it, perhaps because, as he observed early in the debate, he “likes and respects Angela Alsobrooks” and was running to be elected to the Senate and not to “defeat her.”

That’s not to suggest the candidates agreed on a lot. They did not. But to the credit of both, they found ways to claim the other had misrepresented their own record of accomplishment (or not) without resorting to name-calling or similar childishness. Perhaps this is the new fashion following the relatively gentlemanly vice-presidential debate between U.S. Sen. JD Vance and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. The biggest disappointment for voters? The fact that no further Hogan-Alsobrooks clashes are planned.