As surely as Harvard students return to the Square each fall, Cambridge voters are treated to heated races each election year.

This year's races for state representative are no exception.

Most Cantabrigians will be judges in either a rematch of the 1996 race in which incumbent Alice K. Wolf beat Vice Mayor Anthony D. Galluccio by 89 votes or a three-candidate effort to oust the five-term part-time Harvard security guard Alvin E. Thompson.

The city's smaller districts, are held by Rep. Timothy J. Toomey, Jr. and Rep. Paul C. Demakis, are uncontested in the primary.

`Personalities and Class'

The battle between Wolf and Galluccio is being fought along the streets of the 27th Middlesex District which encompasses North Cambridge, West Cambridge and much of the Harvard campus.

Cambridge resident Glenn S. Koocher '71, who hosts the local cable television program "Cambridge Inside Out," says the differences between the two candidates run deeper than the issues they support.

Koocher, who says he plans to vote for Galluccio, says the distinction between the candidates lies in "personalities and class."

While Galluccio supporters tend to be long-term Cambridge residents from blue-collar backgrounds, Koocher says Wolf's supporters are liberals who tend to have a condescending attitude towards the working class.

"What's not being said [in the Galluccio campaign] is `I'm not a snob like Alice and her people,"' Koocher says.

Koocher cited an incident, which took place earlier this month, as typical of Wolf's campaign tactics.

Wolf's political consultant Kate Champion Murphy mistakenly left a message on a stranger's answering machine in which she said she was looking for liberal lawyers to criticize Galluccio's non-profit organization for an earlier paperwork glitch.

In the message, which was printed in the Cambridge Chronicle, Murphy said she wanted to "have other people [besides Wolf] throwing arrows" at Galluccio.

Galluccio was contacted by the Attorney General's Office in August after he filed to incorporate his non-profit organization Galluccio Associates, which donates money to youth sports programs.

The Office of the Attorney General informed Galluccio that he had not been-been legally collecting donations illegally because he had never filed the necessary papers.

The Chronicle reported Galluccio was unaware of the requirements and plans to comply with all of the office's requests.

Despite his criticisms of Wolf, Koocher says he expects she will win because she holds an advantage as incumbent.

"Wolf has to be perceived as the front-runner," he says.

Koocher says Wolf has a clean record and the average voter will not care enough about the race to research the candidates.

Some Cambridge residents are unhappy with both candidates. Hector Vicente, a resident of the Walden Square Apartments and a future police officer, is undecided.

"Both have made promises but never came through," Vicente says.

"They are going to get what they want [by getting elected], but what about us? ...Are they going to be giving us 100 percent? I don't know."

Wolf, a former mayor of Cambridge, has over 20 years of experience in the political arena and has served on the City Council and School Committee.

As a member of the House, Wolf is on the House Education and Housing Committees.

Born in Austria, Wolf grew up in the United States and attended Simmons College. She later received a master's degree from the Kennedy School of Government.

Wolf currently has the upper hand in the campaign's fund-raising battle.

So far this year Wolf has raised approximately $98,000 in donations, while Galluccio has raised roughly $66,000.

Galluccio has served on the City Council since 1995.

Like Wolf, Galluccio, who has served on the City Council since 1995, lists affordable housing and education among his top priorities.

The son of an Italian immigrant and a working mother, Galluccio grew up in Cambridge.

Galluccio says his background, as well as his skills in policy-making, allow him to connect well with Cambridge residents.

"[Cambridge is] one of the richest/poorest, educated/uneducated districts you'll find in the country," Galluccio says.

What Cambridge needs, he says, is a "policy person who can connect with working people."

Galluccio says he's the right candidate to fill the seat once occupied by former Massachusetts House Speaker Charles Flaherty and the late U.S. House Speaker Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill.

On the surface, the Wolf and Galluccio platforms seem identical.

Both campaigns have targeted education and affordable housing as key issues to be addressed in the legislature.

But according to Wolf Campaign Manager Marjorie C. Decker, Wolf's years of experience make her the more qualified candidate.

Decker says, "[housing and education] are not campaign issues, they're her life's work."

According to Decker, Galluccio has only recently joined the affordable housing band--wagon, and has no record of supporting affordable housing initiatives on the City Council.

"Alice Wolf has a record of working for over 20 years in these issues," she says.

Wolf is an active supporter of the Housing Bond Bill, which has been passed in the House and the Senate and is up for a final vote this year.

The bill will channel funding toward several housing developments in Cambridge as well as to elderly, disabled and low-income residents who may be in danger of becoming homeless.

But some of Wolf's constituents are unhappy with her record on housing.

Pat Casola, president of the Tenant Association of Fresh Pond Apartments, is a supporter of Galluccio, although she supported Wolf two years ago.

"In two years the housing [in my development] has gotten worse not better," she says.

"[Wolf] has been non-responsive to the fact that 100 tenants have been pushed out."

Security Guard Under Fire

The race in the 28th Middlesex District, which contains Central Square and the eastern portion of the Harvard campus, including Leverett House, is a fiery one as well, with three candidates challenging Democratic incumbent Rep. Alvin E. Thompson.

Thompson, a part-time security guard in Pforzheimer House, has been in office for ten years.

Opponents Jarrett T. Barrios '90, Dennis A. Benzan and David Hoicka, say it's time for Thompson to be replaced.

Koocher says the race in the 28th district will be a close one. "This is really hard to predict," he says.

Thompson has historically benefited from multiple-candidate primaries, but Koocher says in this race he faces "two very articulate, highly respected progressives [Barrios and Benzan]" and Hoicka, a visible community organizer.

The four Democratic candidates have similar views on most of the issues, making it even more challenging for one candidate to win over a majority of the Cambridge voters.

Koocher says Benzan gets most of his support from the black and Latino communities, while Barrios attracts "the who's who of the liberal glitteratti.

Meanwhile Hoicka "mops up the radicals and the other fringe elements," Koocher says.

Despite his incumbency, Thompson does not have a strong hold on the voters.

In the last election, he beat Benzan, who was running as an independent, by a very narrow margin.

Barrios, a former Adams House resident, is an attorney at the Boston law firm Hill & Barlow.

A second-generation Cuban-American, Barrios was named the 1997 Pro Bono Attorney of the Year for representation of immigrants and is an active advocate for a number of social reform issues.

He says some of the major issues in this campaign are affordable housing, the environment and choice in issues affecting women, such as welfare and employment.

The legislature sets any reforms in these areas in motion, he says.

"It's important to recognize in Massachusetts how much power the state House [of Representatives] has," Barrios says.

Barrios boasts support from more organizations ranging from the Massachusetts branch of the National Organization of Women to the Massachusetts League of Environmental Voters and lays claim to more endorsements than any other candidate, including the Massachusetts branch of the National Organization of Women and the Massachusetts League of Environmental Voters.

Cambridge City Council members Kathleen L. Born, Henrietta A. Davis and Katherine Triantafillou are also Barrios supporters.

Despite the many endorsements, Barrios, who is openly gay, has recently been the target of homophobia.

Barrios says, "It's been unfortunate that I've come across some voters who've indicated that they've been contacted" by some of the other campaigns about his sexuality, he says.

But Barrios says he does not want his sexuality to be an issue in the race.

His campaign has also been plagued by thefts of signs from supporters' yards and Barrios says he has contacted the police about the problem.

"While those tactics have been used in the campaign, we have chosen to focus on the positive issues that we want to leave the voters with," he says.

One of Barrios' main opponents is Benzan. The two candidates have held debates in Spanish and appear to be competing for votes from the same sectors.

Benzan, the son of immigrants from the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, is Latino, but also considers himself black.

According to Benzan volunteer Nancy K. Kilburn, Benzan has supporters from all over Cambridge, but many come from black and Latino areas of the city.

Kilburn says Benzan has been working to fight voter apathy, and has already personally registered nearly 1,000 new voters.

Benzan's efforts extend into other areas as well.

"He's really part of a long line of community activists and civil rights activists," Kilburn says.

Benzan, who attended Cambridge, Ringe & Latin and recently graduated from Howard University, works at the Cambridge Algebra Project.

The project was created by civil rights activist Bob Moses and is designed to teach college-prep level math to all students.

Kilburn says besides education, Benzan is also concerned with housing and health care.

"He's really inspirational to me personally," Kilburn says.

City Councilor Kenneth E. Reeves '72 supports Benzan's candidacy.

While The Crimson could not reach Hoicka for comment, in his campaign literature he lists education, social justice, universal health care and affordable housing as some of his top priorities.

Hoicka is a native of Canada and has a degree in Civil Engineering and Design from MIT. He also has a theology degree from Boston University as well as a law degree from Suffolk Law School.

A spokesperson for Save Central Square and the Central Square Neighborhood Coalition, Hoicka is active in the movement to protect Central Square from the plans of large developers.

Hoicka also works as an advocate for low-income tenants. In recent months he has tangled with Thompson in a case involving the representative's attempts to evict one of his tenants.

The Chronicle reports the apartment Thompson owns on 521 Green St. has failed Housing Authority inspections several times.

Despite Hoicka's public profile as an advocate for multiple causes, he has been the least successful in raising money. So far he has raised approximately $2,600.

Koocher and an aide from the Thompson campaign see Barrios and Benzan, not Hoicka, as Thompson's greatest threats in the primary.

Thompson may have three challengers in the primary, but this is nothing new for the incumbent, who has been in office for five terms.

Thompson aide Daphne Abeel '59 says her boss gets much of his support from working families.

Abeel says Thompson's main focus is on issues that directly affect the community and he works to ensure that Cambridge gets its share of the state budget.

Thompson is vice chair of the Rules Committee, which controls the flow of legislation to the floor of the House.

He is currently working to improve education, the environment and elderly affairs in the city and voted in favor of a bill to clean up toxic waste sites.

Some of Thompson's opponents have criticized him for a poor voting record in the House, but Abeel says he has a 98.7 percent voting record for the past two years.

While signs supporting the various campaigns can be seen on almost every corner in Central Square, few people on the street have much to say about the race.

One woman, who wished to remain anonymous, said she supports Barrios because of his stance on affordable housing.

But many people were either unfamiliar with the candidates or were not registered to vote.

Ronald W. Potvin is the sole Republican in the race and is the first to run in the district since 1964.

Toomey, the Democratic incumbent from the 29th Middlesex District is unchallenged. Demakis, the Democratic representative from the 8th Suffolk District is unchallenged in the primary, but will run against Republican candidate Christopher Caputo in the final election.

--Melissa K. Crocker contributed to the reporting of this story.