ALTHOUGH MOST OF the media's campaign coverage since Labor Day--both national and local--has focused on the presidential race, there are contests and issues on the ballot below Jimmy Carter and President Ford that may eventually have as much impact on Massachusetts voters as the presidential race and certainly deserve as much consideration. In several races, voters have the opportunity to support candidates who have shown leadership on crucial issues.

Senator Edward M. Kennedy '54, who faces three challengers November 2, should certainly win the re-election his record in the Senate merits. From his seat on the Judiciary Committee, Kennedy has worked to revise immigration laws and provide humane care for Vietnamese refugees. He has long been a driving force for comprehensive health care insurance, which may finally be adopted under a new Democratic administration. This summer, he fought tirelessly in committee rooms and on the Senate floor to eliminate tax loopholes, an effort which may also bear fruit in the next session of Congress. For acts of progressive leadership and for his liberal voting record, Kennedy deserves strong support.

Representative Thomas P. O'Neill Jr., the current Majority Leader of the House and very probably its next Speaker, also deserves particular mention. His Republican opponent has distinguished himself primarily by launching a thinly-disguised racist appeal for anti-busing votes. O'Neill should perhaps curb his foreign travel at the government's expense and pay more attention to the economic needs of his district, but on the basis of his record as Majority Leader, he will be a progressive Speaker of the House.

Representative Robert F. Drinan, of the nearby fourth Congressional district, faces a strong challenge this year from Arthur Mason, a Republican lawyer from Brookline. Drinan was an early advocate of the impeachment of Richard Nixon, as well as a vocal opponent of the Vietnam War. He worked successfully for the abolition of the House Internal Security Committee, and since the end of the Vietnam and Nixon eras, Drinan has turned his attention to solving the local problems of high unemployment. Mason, although not as far to the right as many Republicans, advocates a standard Republican solution to unemployment--investment tax credits for business--a plan that little benefits the people who suffer most from a sagging economy.

The only seriously contested race for state office is City Councilor Saundra Graham's battle against incumbent State Representative John J. Toomey. The 67-year-old Toomey, entrenched in the legislature since 1943, has been an undistinguished practitioner of old-style machine politics. Graham, however, has fought vigorously in the city council for rent control, and for the rights of the city's minorities. Graham has tried to gain a seat in the state legislature before, but this time she has a better-organized campaign and a steadily weakening opponent. Graham would serve well as a new voice for Cambridge in the state legislature.

ASIDE FROM THE races that seem to center around personality more than policy, there are several important questions on the Massachusetts ballot that present clear choices on social and economic issues.

The state Equal Rights Amendment if approved would prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, as well as race, religion or national origin. It is sad that the amendment is necessary, but its passage would speed the process of reversing long-standing patterns of discrimination.

An amendment to the state constitution authorizing the imposition of a graduated income tax is another long overdue measure that would equalize Massachusetts' currently regressive tax structure.

A proposed law that would ban the private ownership and sale of handguns also merits approval next week. It would represent a step toward a nationwide ban on handguns, which are clearly the instrument, if not the cause, of much violence and death.

Skyrocketing electric rates in Massachusetts have prompted two of the questions on the ballot. Question 4 would establish a state power authority, similar in concept to public power companies throughout the country. Public power is a proven concept that will put a lid on the ever-rising cost of electricity.

Question 7 would set uniform electric rates and would allow "peak load" pricing policies for all consumers of electricity. Flat rates are a desirable national policy, and support for this proposal would do a great deal to further that goal. The states that take the first steps to establish flat-rate policies may be temporarily penalized by some industrial cutbacks, but a study by Kenneth Arrow, Conant University Professor, reports that the state's economy will eventually be stronger with flat rates.

Finally, there is a proposed law to ban flip-top cans and place a five-cent deposit on most soda and beer cans and bottles. Notwithstanding the aggressive advertising campaign the container interests have waged against the bill, using what amounts to scare tactics, it would be a significant step toward reducing the litter of metal and glass that is beginning to blanket the landscape.