Vice Mayor Alice K. Wolf scored a landslide victory in the City Council election Tuesday, garnering more first-place votes than any candidate since 1975 and leading the vanguard of what appears to be a decisive victory for the city's liberal forces.

According to a preliminary count taken yesterday by election officials, Wolf received 3548 first-choice votes, easily assuring her a fourth term on the nine-member City Council.

For complete results of yesterday's preliminary election count, see page 9.

Election officials estimated the "quota" of votes needed for election at 2698, meaning that 850 of Wolf's votes will be transferred to candidates who were lower choices on her first-place ballots.

And for the first time since his election to the council in 1959, Councillor Walter J. Sullivan failed to meet the quota on the first round.

Sullivan ran a distant second to Wolf in yesterday's count with 2553 votes--certainly enough to gain him a seat, but quite a ways from the mid-1960s, when a Sullivan vote of more than 4000 was the norm.

When asked if she had ever expected to beat Sullivan, Wolf answered with a simple "No."

"This is very dramatic," she added. In addition to Wolf, at least two other members of the liberal Cambridge Civic Association (CCA) slate appeared certain of victory: incumbent Francis H. Duehay '55 and challenger Edward N. Cyr.

Two other CCA-backed candidates, Kenneth E. Reeves '72 and Jonathan S. Myers, finished sixth and ninth in the unofficial first-choice ballot counting.

Sentiments ran high among CCA supporters in the early stages of the afternoon, as preliminary results led many to speculate that the good government group might win five seats on the council and that Timothy J. Toomey, Jr., a pro-tenant Independent, might win the sixth.

The CCA has not held a majority on the council since 1973. Since that time, power has been split evenly between the good government group and a group of four conservative Independents, with liberal Independent Alfred E. Vellucci providing th swing vote.

Liberal city activists appeared jubilant yesterday, with many predicting the stringest pro-rent control majority since the system's inception in 1970. Others predicted that the city would begin to step back from its aggressive pro-development stance and put strict controls on new zoning.

"It looks like we're likely to get a progressive majority" said Wolf. "Maybe a progressive majority plus Toomey."

"The slate did very well because I think the issues were developed very effectively," Wolf said.

City politicos had predicted that this election could radically change the face of city politics, largely because Vellucci, the mayor and a 34-year council member, and two longtime CCA councillors, Saundra M. Graham and David E. Sullivan, decided not to run. The last time three incumbent council seats were up for grabs was in 1961.

In addition, voters decided on a controversial ballot initiative known as Proposition 1-2-3, which would radicallyoverhaul the city's rent contol system. Observerssaid yesterday that 1-2-3 and the three vacancieshad contributed to a high voter turnout andpredicted overwhelming defeat for the referendum.

The unofficial count indicated that 27,605voters cast their ballots Tuesday--about 59percent of the city's 47,000 voters.

Independent Councillor William H. Walsh, thecity's most vocal critic of rent control andsupporter of 1-2-3, finished fourth with 1960votes. Independent Sheila T. Russell had a tighthold on eighth place with 1609. Both are likely toretain their seats, observers said.

Locked in a dead heat for ninth place areformer Independent Councillor Alfred W. LaRosa andMyers, each with about 1470 votes. As votes aretransferred in accordance with the city's systemof proportional representation, either one couldwin a seat.

Before the last set of results were announced,many observers were predicting the defeat ofincumbent Thomas W. Danehy, an 11-term councillorwho enjoyed immense popularity in the 1970s.Danehy has slipped steadily in recent years andthis year had to fight off tough challenges fromCyr and Myers in his home base of North Cambridge.

But the final tally yesterday put Danehy justbehind Myers and LaRosa with 1412 votes, closeenough for him to pull off a victory late in thevote count.

The mood of city liberals reached its peakshortly before 5 p.m., when Election CommissionerSondra Scheir read, in alphabetical order, thefirst choice vote totals with three quarters ofthe votes counted. On reaching Wolf's name at thebottom of the list, Scheir paused for about 10seconds.

The room filled with an almost audible silencewaiting for Scheir to finish her sentence, andbroke into applause when she announced that Wolf'scumulative vote had reached 2773.

Not everyone was surprised at the incumbentvice mayor's success, however.

"She worked it to death for two years, and shewas involved with everything in the city," saidVellucci. "If two cockroaches were walking acrossthe floor, she would be right there cheering themon. And that brings out the votes."

Vellucci attributed the success of thepro-tenant candidates to 1-2-3, which he saidattracted large numbers of people to the polls. Hesaid it was inevitable that the 1-2-3 resultswould spill over into other races.

"They got a council ballot in their hand, andthey've got to do something with it," Velluccisaid.

"The voters in the City of Cambridge havechanged," said Walter Sullivan, reached at homeafter the count. "It was a vote to offset rentcontrol, and that's what did it."

Sullivan predicted that the basic makeup of thecouncil would not change next year, with fourseats going to the CCA, four to conservativeIndependents and the ninth to Toomey.

Sullivan, the top vote-getter in every electionfrom 1961 to 1987, received 3738 votes in 1975,making him the last candidate to beat Wolf's totalthis year.

Observers said that Wolf's extraordinarily highvote total made her an early favorite to beelected the city's second woman mayor, should theCCA win a majority.

When asked how he thought he would work withthe CCA, Toomey said that he did not forsee anymajor conflicts.

"I don't see any problems," Toomey said.

But Walsh cautioned that until the week-longtransfer process is complete, it is a mistake todeclare any side the victor.

He added that he is undaunted by the prospectof a CCA or a protenant majority.

"There's no question that there's more tenantsout there than there are homeowners, but thatdoesn't change my position," Walsh said.

"It'll be a long two years," said Russell.

And even candidates who appeared certain tolose were philosophical about the electoralprocess.

"We're ahead of where we projected we'd be,"said Independent candidate Alan D. Bell, running adistant 12th with 814 votes. "I think it's arespectable showing."

City Council Vote (Preliminary Count)

Candidate  #1 VotesAlice K. Wolf  3548Walter J. Sullivan  2553Francis H. Duehay '55  2480William H. Walsh  1960Edward N. Cyr  1946Kenneth E. Reeves '72  1703Timothy J. Toomey, Jr.  1694Sheila T. Russell  1609Jonathan S. Myers  1471Alfred W. LaRosa  1468Thomas W. Danehy  1412Alan D. Bell  814John T. St. George '70  708Esther M. Hanig  665Rena H. Leib  657Renae D. Scott  622E. Denise Simmons  533David J. Sullivan  185John W. Downing '54  178Paul J. Johnson, Jr.  148Kenneth D. May  115Regina Jones  107Robert Heroux  105James M. Greene  84Peter Sheinfeld  71William C. Jones  33Vivian Kurkjian  23William P. Vienneau  14

These results are unofficial. Candidates areelected to the nine-member council once they reachthe quota, which election officials estimated at2698 votes. In Cambridge's complicated system ofproportional representation, votes are transferredto lower-choice candidates after the first choicesmeet the quota or are dropped from the count forhaving gotten the fewest votes.