In what pundits are calling the closest, most hard-fought Democratic primary race in Massachusetts, Cambridge voters today will nominate either City Councillor Anthony D. Galluccio or former mayor Alice K. Wolf for state representative of the 27th District.

The candidates have battled all summer long, and analysts said the race is a dead heat between Galluccio and Wolf.

Michael Cavallo is also a candidate, but most pundits say his chances are slim.

The primary's winner is virtually guaranteed election in November, since even Cambridge Republican Committee Chair David L.K. Trumbull called the 27th District "probably the worst seat for a Republican."

Glen S. Koocher '71, host of the local political talk show "Cambridge InsideOut," said, "They've both worked very hard. They both want this very badly."

The race has been--for the most part--a clean one. Practically the only mudslinging has been accusations that the other side was slinging mud.

"There was a lot of negative campaigning [by the Wolf campaign] and I think it preyed on people's sensitivities and vulnerabilities," Galluccio said yesterday at a barbecue for residents of Huron Towers, a housing project for the elderly in North Cambridge.

However, Wolf's campaign manager Mimi E. Turchinetz said Galluccio was "running a negative campaign about [Wolf's] campaign."

One reason the candidates focused on each other's campaign styles is the absence of clear issues to distinguish them. In years past, Cambridge Democrats were divided by rent control, which Galluccio opposed and Wolf supported.

This is the first election for state representative in Cambridge since rent control was abolished in 1994.

While Koocher and other local pundits describe Galluccio as the working class candidate and Wolf as the candidate for the "liberal establishment," both candidates call the generalizations unfair.

Galluccio, 29, said he represents progressives and students, as well as blue-collar Democrats. Turchinetz said Wolf relies on "a cross section of folks who support her from all walks of life.

"There are lunchpail folks who support Alice Wolf," she said.

Wolf's campaign emphasizes the former mayor's many years of service to Cambridge. Galluccio has focused on his youth and aggressive advocacy of local concerns.

Both campaigns plan to mobilize supporters tomorrow--a crucial tactic in a primary with no national election to increase turnout.

With a Nor'Easter storm expected to hit the Bay State today, leaving two inches of rain in its wake, votes from small numbers of loyal supporters could make the difference.