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.

Wolf's campaign will send drivers into the city today to help voters get to the polls, Turchinetz said. Galluccio said he will do the same, running shuttles from Huron Towers and other locations.

The 27th District seat was formerly occupied by Massachusetts House Speaker Charles F. Flaherty, who stepped down last spring after being convicted of income tax evasion and state ethics abuses.

Before Flaherty, the seat was held by U.S. House Speaker Thomas F. "Tip" O'Neil.

Harvard students may vote at one of six places.

All first-years living in the Yard may vote at Larsen Hall at the Graduate School of Education on Appian Way.

Greenough Hall, Hurlbut hall, Pennypacker Hall and Adams House residents may vote at Gund Hall at the Graduate School of Design at 48 Quincy St.

Eliot House, Kirkland House, Leverett House, Lowell House and Quincy House residents may vote at a polling place inside Quincy House, while DeWolfe, Dunster and Mather House students must travel to Putnam Apartments at 2 Mt. Auburn St.

Those living in Cabot, Currier and Pforzheimer Houses should vote at the Peabody Elementary School on Linnaean Street. Apley Court or Claverly Hall residents vote at the Friends Meeting House in Longfellow Park.

The polls will open from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m.

This is the first election in Cambridge tallied by the city's new electronic polling system, meaning results will be available sometime tonight. Results previously were not available for several days, as election workers counted the ballots by hand.

--C.R. McFadden contributed to the reporting of this story