State Auditor

Perhaps the only race in the state that is offering a tough political contest within both parties is for state auditor, a position that is little known by the voters but which carries a $60,000 paycheck.

The office of state auditor, which monitors and investigates whether the state should reimburse localities for mandated public programs, opened up when John Finnegan, who served as auditor for the last five years, announced his resignation last March.

Finnegan's surprise decision invited three Democratic party challengers and two leading Republican party figures to try for the post.

The man who is the contender to win the Democratic party nomination is former middle-weight boxing contender and current State Representative from Newtown, A. Joseph DeNucci. He holds a sizable lead over his two opponents, Maura Hennigan and Charles Yancey, who are both Boston City councillors.

Yancey, who is Black, has been boosted of late by the endorsement of the Boston Globe, which cited his long record in fiscal management when it chose the long-shot aspirant.

Hennigan has sizable campaign funds and has headed the subcommittee which oversees the Boston budget.

The Republican race revives what has been a long-standing political feud within the party between House Minority Leader William Robinson and Republican Party leader Andrew Natsios.

Natsios made an unsuccessful bid for Robinson's minority leadership position, while Robinson has been instrumental in trying to strip the party leadership from Natsios.

The two have split this state's minority support evenly, with one poll finding both favored by 44 percent of party members.

State Representative

State Rep. Saundra Graham is less than worried about reelection from the 28th Middlesex Country District.

Her only opponent, 63-year-old Democrat Joseph Carson, says he would duplicate her progressive voting record if elected but claims superior "life experience" and education.

He was also her sole challenger in 1984, when she won her fifth consecutive term as a state representative.

Carson charges that Graham, who is serving her eighth two-year term on the Cambridge City Council, cannot serve properly in both elective offices.