Many observers were stunned yesterday when unofficial tallies for number one votes in the Cambridge City Council race showed only three Cambridge Convention '77 candidates in strong positions, and two sons of powerful political families almost assured of council seats.

Drawing heavily from the black community centered in wards two, four and five, convention incumbent Saundra Graham finished in sixth place with 1653 number one votes.

David Wylie, a former councilor who lost his first bid for re-election in 1975, finished second among the convention candidates in the seventh spot in the field, with 1594 votes.

Slate member Mary Ellen Preusser moved from an eleventh place finish in 1975 to ninth, thus far this fall, with 1371 number one votes.

Kevin P. Crane '73, the son of former Mayor Edward Crane '35, was in third place, four votes behind Mayor Alfred E. Vellucci, who had 1795. Crane's votes were spread somewhat evenly throughout all of Cambridge's eleven wards, while Vellucci's were concentrated mostly in ward one, East Cambridge.

Lawrence Frisoli, a member of the Frisoli-Degugliomo clan, finished in a tight and secure fourth place with 1779 votes.

"Who will feed who what?" Cambridge candidates and campaign workers wondered yesterday as ballot counters tallied the results in the basement of the Longfellow School.

Number one votes, counted yesterday, are an indication of candidates' chances. But they are often misleading--part of the peculiar and unpredictable proportional representation system.

This year's low voter turnout--23,580 out of 49,708 registered voters compared to 27,969 out of 45,292 in 1975 has already made certain things clear. The people with organization have won

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