The recount has spurned one, and maybe another Cambridge politician, to move into this November's council race, when all nine seats will be up for grabs.

LaRosa said he has "already taken out the papers to run again in November."

Meanwhile, Branson, the so-called "condo-candidate" two years ago, said the event was putting him back in the "Cambridge mentality," but that he still hadn't decided whether or not to run.

City councillors and other political observers are speculating on who will end up in Russell's chair when the council meets this month to elect a mayor.

Duehay, who was mayor from 1980-82 and ran for the council on the liberal Cambridge Civic Association (CCA) slate, said this week that he "would be honored to be chosen." As vice-mayor, Duehay presided over the last meeting of the nine-member body.

Councilor Alfred E. Velluci--who is preparing for his 36th council race--said the mayoral position "could go any way. Nobody's got a claim on the seat."

First time City Councilor Alice K. Wolf told The Crimson in a recent interview that she was "pleased with the current leadership" to fill the rest of Russell's mayoral term. She would not discuss her desire to become mayor until next November, which the seat once again will be up for grabs.

Two other CCA-endorsed candidates, Saundra M. Graham and David E. Sullivan, hold full-time jobs and have said they are not interested in the mayoral position.

In 1984 Russell was elected mayor by the council after four weeks and 11 tallies. The longest it ever took so elect a mayor of Cambridge was four months and 1200 ballots in 1948