“Clearly this district was gerrymandered for him,” Decker said in an interview yesterday.

But Demakis balks at this charge.

“It’s a total falsehood and she knows it,” Demakis said. “I have a district that has a lot of new territory in it. How is that in my favor? I lost three of my four strongest precincts.”

Winters and others have said this race—with its combination of new territory and star liberals—is too tough to call.

The Young and the Restless

Meanwhile, the Galluccio-Barrios contest has pitted two noted, well-liked young leaders against each other.

Barrios, a Cuban-American originally from Florida who would be the first Latino in the state senate, has brought two terms of experience as a state representative to the race—and a love of door-to-door campaigning.

Galluccio—who has twice made a bid for a state representative seat, losing once by a razor-thin margin of fewer than 100 votes—would bear the onus of three losses in state elections if today’s election doesn’t go his way.

Winters predicts that Galluccio will win, so long as he has made enough inroads into the district.

“Galluccio connects with people, he just does,” Winters said. “I think Jarrett can do well in the Cambridge districts, but then again I don’t think Anthony will do terribly either.”

Barrios has a “progressive stink,” Winters said, while Galluccio has more of the blue-collar local accent and look.

“He’s got that I-come-from-here townie look and feel,” Winters said.

Reached yesterday at campaign headquarters on Mass. Ave. in Cambridge, Galluccio was making phone calls to his supporters.

“We’re in excellent shape,” he said, describing the frenetic pace of campaigning as “mayhem.”

Barrios did not reply to a phone call yesterday.

—Staff writer Lauren R. Dorgan can be reached at dorgan@fas.harvard.edu.