O'Neil Drops Out Of 8th CD Race

Complaining that he could not "compete with millionaires," Albert L. "Dapper" O'Neil announced yesterday that he was withdrawing from the Eighth Congressional District race.

"It's a sad thing when you have to buy an election," the outspokenly conservative 65-year-old Boston City Councilor said of the much-publicized contest. "My wonderful staff and family did not want me to leave Boston and convinced me that I could not raise the money to conduct a good campaign."

At the same press conference, O'Neil declared his candidacy for Suffolk County Sherriff just three days after incumbent Dennis Kearney announced that he would not seek re-election.

"It's the job that I've always wanted, and it's the only job I'll run for," said O'Neil of the $54,000-a-year sherriff's post. Wearing a star-shaped "O'Neil for Sherriff" badge, he described himself as "a law and order man." O'Neil serves as Chairman of the Boston City Council's Public Safety Committee.

O'Neil has already lost two bids for the Sherriff's seat, running in 1974, and again in 1978 against Kearney. During his 1974 bid against Thomas S. Eisenstadt, one observer told The Boston Globe, "if O'Neil wins, he'll be the first sheriff in Massachusetts to call out a posse." That year O'Neil pledged to create a network of police informers throughout the city.

O'Neil left the crowded field of candidates for the Eighth Congressional seat with a smile on his face, in marked contrast to State Representatives William F. Galvin (D-Allston) and Thomas J. Vallely (D-Back Bay), both of whom were visibly upset when they withdrew from the race last month.

Galvin, who withdrew from the Eighth Congressional contest to seek re-election, lashed out bitterly at O'Neil in his departing announcement, calling him "a disgrace to the race," whose flamboyant presence hampered the serious discussion of issues.

State Rep. Thomas M. Gallagher (D-Brighton) has agreed with Galvin, saying recently that O'Neil's absence would permit the public to concentrate on more liberal and popular candidates.

Known for his conservative views, O'Neil actively opposed mandatory school integration in Boston when it was introduced in 1974. He was a member of the anti-busing organization Powder Keg and led marches and rallies opposing integration. He attempted to make busing a campaign issue in the Eighth Congressional race but had little success.

Four Eighth Congressional District candidates attended an anti-apartheid protest yesterday afternoon, joining more than 500 of what O'Neil has described as "flaming, liberal, social planning, activist do-gooders." Melvin I. King, State Sen. George Bachrach, Gallagher, and Socialist Jon Hillson attended the rally on Boston Common.

Hillson sparked a shouting match at a candidates' forum last month when he accused O'Neil of encouraging "racist mobs" during the busing crisis. Yesterday he said he had "enjoyed taking Councilor O'Neil on," and called the departing candidate a "racist" and a "buffoon."