the campaign, O'Connor tried to distance himself from the scandal-plagued Ryan by contrasting his liberal positions on the death penalty, affirmative action, and the war on drugs to those of the conservative Ryan. O'Connor spent $200,000 of his own and turned over have of his campaign fund to noted political consultant Joseph Napolitan. O'Connor pledged to only serve two terms, although according to The Boston Globe's Kevin Cullen, given O'Connor age, smoking habit, and recovery from a near-fatal illness several years before "even his friends say they would be surprised if O'Connor would or could serve more than one". O'Connor was seen as a co-front runner with William M. Bennett. Bennett, the more conservative candidate, was able to attract the majority of financial contributors and campaign volunteers, as well as endorsement from former federal prosecutors, Ryan's former assistants, and Judd Carhart, the president of the state district attorneys' association. The other two Democratic candidates Eugene J. Mulcahy and Michael T. Kogut, were described by Cullen as "credible candidates" who were "unable to raise a fraction of the money that O'Connor and Bennett have". The race ended up being close with Bennett winning by 513 votes. O'Connor finished in fourth place with 22% of the vote to Bennett's 27%, Kogut's 26%, and Mulcahy's 25%. O'Connor believed his defeat was due to Ryan's support of his campaign, explaining that "The people who supported Matty would ordinarily support me, but they didn't like my liberal positions and the liberals were suspicious of me because of my friendship with Matty." Death On September 11, 1996, O'Connor died following a long illness. At the time of his death, O'Connor was running for reelection to the Hampden County Commission. See also 1953–1954 Massachusetts legislature 1955–1956 Massachusetts legislature References 1925 births 1996 deaths Amherst College alumni County commissioners in Massachusetts Georgetown University Law Center alumni Massachusetts lawyers Mayors of Springfield, Massachusetts Democratic Party members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives 20th-century American politicians 20th-century American lawyers