But even so, the move may have cost Thompson political allies.

"I was annoyed with his efforts to get the job at the school department," says Lee. "I am concerned about patronage jobs, I am not going to play a role in his campaign."

"People feel the seat is open," says Lee. "Given the dynamics of the district, if a strong woman candidate emerges, she would take it. It is a small feminist district," says Lee.

When she conceded her seat to Thompson in 1988, Graham carefully left the door open for a comeback. But Koocher discounts as unlikely the possibility of a fall Graham campaign.

Others are not so sure.

"I don't know what she's going to do," says Lee. "I wouldn't put it past her. I think the reason she's not joined the race is that no one has asked her."

Another candidates mentioned as a possible challenger for the seat is Vice Mayor Kenneth E. Reeves '72. Former School Committee member Rena H. Leib and current member Henrietta Davis were rumored to be considering runs, but both said this week they would not enter the race.

No one is discounting the Beeferman canditacy either.

"Larry Beeferman is a formidable candidate with a firm articulation of the issues," says Koocher, pointing out that with degrees in both law and physics, Beeferman will appeal to an intellectual consituency.

Beeferman's only limitation, says Koocher, is the fact that he lost his 1982 race for representative badly.

But Lee contends that Thompson is far from finished in the 28 Middlesex District. "He is vunerable of course, and he owes a victory to anti-Graham sentiment," Lee says. "But he has not done anything to embarrass the district.

"If suddenly he became a flaming right winger it might be different," says Lee.