For the first time since Nelson A. Rockefeller was Governor, Democrats are heading into a gubernatorial contest without an obvious front-runner who is widely known.

An unparalleled financial devotion to his car and race team has made him the obvious front-runner in the Modified division.

As a Song of the Year finalist, "Hey There Delilah" is an obvious front-runner here.

So far, the party has yet to produce an obvious front-runner, making the last few weeks of the primary very unpredictable, many Democrats here say.

In a multicandidate field like that of the Democrats' this year, with no obvious front-runner, victory goes to the candidate who can most significantly reach outside his geographic base.

Although emboldened by their success in the Congressional elections of 1974, the Democrats had no obvious front-runner for the presidential nomination in 1976.

While there is no obvious front-runner among the Democrats, Vice President George Bush runs far ahead of his rivals in the polls and is their common target.

For Republicans, who lack an obvious front-runner, the activity is particularly intense.

Time will tell, but I suspect that the obvious front-runners are bug fixes and performance enhancements.

Mr. Crudo, a former Republican school board member, said he won't make any commitments about running for mayor right now though some party leaders said he was the obvious front-runner.