Cambridge School Committee member Henrietta A. Davis will join eight incumbents on the Cambridge City Council, as unofficial results in Tuesday's municipal elections announced early yesterday morning.

Davis's election, which culminated in the six-day process of hand-counting more than 19,000 ballots, ensures that the council will be evenly split between progressive Cambridge Civic Association (CCA) candidates and conservatives endorsed by the Alliance for Change.

Mayor Kenneth E. Reeves '72, a former CCA candidate who ran without endorsements from either group this year, garnered the most votes of all 18 candidates and will occupy the ninth seat on the council.

Davis will join the eight incumbents when the new City Council convenes during the first week of January.

The incumbents re-elected to the council are CCA-endorsed Francis H. Duehay '55, Kathleen L. Born and Katherine Triantifillou. They will be seated along with Alliance-backed Anthony D. Galluccio, Sheila T. Russell, Michael A. Sullivan and Timothy J. Toomey, Jr.

CCA Surprise

Davis's victory garners her the seat held by retiring Councillor Jonathan S. Meyers, a definite boost to the CCA, an organization which observers said had lost influence after the abolition of rent control by statewide referendum last November.

"The future of the CCA was on referendum," said member Chuck R. Colbert. "We surprised a lot of pundits this week."

Many observers had predicted that the tidal wave of conservatism which swept the nation last November would filter down to Cambridge this year and finally shift the balance of power on the City Council.

It did not happen.

Despite disappointing voter turnout in traditional CCA strongholds, the progressive group was able to effectively mobilize its constituents.

"I am very happy because the signs were very ominous--a tremendous conservative tide in this country, the loss of rent control, the low voter turnout," said CCA affiliate and Agassiz Tenants Union Co-Chair Randy Fenstermacher. "We are very pleased that we stood our ground."

City politicos said yesterday that the transfer of votes possible under Cambridge's proportional representation system helped the CCA to victory.

Proportional representation allows citizens to rank their choice of candidates in order of preference. Once a candidate meets a quota of "number one" votes, his or her excess votes are transferred towards the next numbered candidate.

The transfer of votes from Reeves and CCA-endorsed Lester P. Lee, Jr. proved decisive in propelling Davis to victory over conservative James J. McSweeney.

Davis received 301 transfers from Lee and 50 votes from Reeves. McSweeney, however, gained 35 of Lee's votes and a scant six from Reeves.