Democratic Senatorial nominee Thomas J. O'Connor yesterday accused his Republican opponent, incumbent Leverett Saltonstall '14, of "being a symbol of the status quo."

A rare example of a candidate for statewide office campaigning for Harvard support, the Springfield mayor spoke before over 300 people at a Law-Graduate Democratic Club meeting at Harkness Commons.

"I favor the passage of a Federal Fair Employment Practices Act," O'Connor said. He expressed approval of the Southern sit-in movement.

Differing sharply from the Democratic Platform and from most other Northern advocates of strong civil rights legislation, the Massachusetts Senate hopeful declared "I would think twice before dractically changing the Senate filibuster rule."

O'Connor attacked Massachusetts Republicans for appealing to the voters solely on ethnic, color, racial, and religious lines. "By placing a Negro, a Jew, an Italian, a Pole, and a Yankee on the slate, the Republicans hope to pick up enough minority group votes to push over the top man on the statewide ballot--Senator Saltonstall," he charged.

O'Connor won the Democratic nomination in an upset victory over Gov. Foster Furcolo in the Sept. 13 primary.