He also questions Graham's credibility as a rent control activist. He claims her son bought a house in Cambridge last year and attempted to evict the tenants in order to move into it himself.

Graham has espoused activist causes in the Legislature and City Council. Her work includes advocacy for rent control, child care services, gay rights, and education reform.

Carson is the former owner and publisher of the short-lived Cambridge Free Press. He has never held public office "and probably never will." He has declined to specify his current occupation.

The district includes the Quad, but not Harvard Yard and the River Houses.

Governor

The Democratic candidate for Governor is unopposed in his own party and almost in the Republican Party as well.

Incumbent Gov. Michael S. Dukakis will run as a team with the winner of the Democratic primary race for Lieutenant Governor. He has endorsed neither of the two front-runners.

The Republican Party has endorsed a total of three challengers, each of whom has been subject to a political scandal.

Gregory S. Hyatt's candidacy was torpedoed a few days before the Republican State Convention by executives of a contractors' organization which had employed him. They accused him of incompetence and bizarre personal behavior.

State Rep. Royall Switzler (R-Wellesley) was nominated by a close second ballot at the April convention. He was later found to have falsified his Vietnam war record, and withdrew from the race. The current bearer of the party's endorsement, George Kariotis, owns a corporation which has been fined by the Environmental Protection Agency, but is relatively unscathed.

Middlesex DA

Middlesex County District Attorney Scott C. Harshbarger '64 is seeking a second term in his post after abandoning a bid for attorney general.

The Cambridge resident's only Democratic opponent is Stephen McGrail of Wakefield, a former state senator.

The challenger, who is not predicted to win, persistently criticizes the Harshbarger's handling of money confiscated from drug dealers, normally spent only for drug enforcement.

When Harshbarger decided to seek reelection, several candidates, including some of his supporters, dropped their efforts to succeed him.