Nation: Reagan Gets a G.O.P Senate

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Alabama. Ask any Alabaman. How could the son of "Kissin' Jim" Folsom, the state's popular former Governor, fail to win a statewide election? But that is what happened when "Little Jim" ran up against retired Admiral Jeremiah Denton, 56, who was riding a surge of Southern patriotism. Denton, who spent 7½ years in a North Viet Nam prison after his plane was shot down, went on the air waves with the warning: "Our military is in the worst shape it has been since George Washington walked around barefoot at Valley Forge."

Denton sounded some other concerns. Strongly supported by the Rev. Jerry Falwell's Moral Majority, he wondered if teen-age unhappiness and suicides were not the result of excessive emphasis on sex in popular songs and TV shows. The salty-tongued admiral made light of his opponent's age ("too young") and intelligence ("I'm sure there are some 31-year-olds in the state who are smarter than me, but he's not one of them"). But in general, the candidates agreed on the issues: a balanced federal budget but greater defense spending and less Government interference in personal lives. Probably the biggest mistake of the campaign was made when a Democratic Party leader said that it was dumb for a top-ranking officer to let himself be captured during the Viet Nam War. The voters let it be known that was no way to treat a hero by giving the underdog admiral the victory with 50.7% to 47.5% of the vote.

Florida. "When I'm in Washington, you'll know I'm there," promised Paula Hawkins on the stump. "You need a fighter in the U.S. Senate. They've had too many lovers up there." Her contest was far from a love feast as she bested her Democratic opponent, William Gunter, with grit and grace and the right combination of issues to win, 51% to 49%.

Hawkins, 53, drew sharp distinctions to Gunter, 46, on social issues. She called for a constitutional amendment to allow prayers in school; Gunter opposed it. He supported ERA; she did not. There was no argument over the candidates' support of Israel, a critical issue for Florida's sizable Jewish population. Gunter, who is a Baptist, reminded voters that he had met his wife Teresa in Jerusalem. Hawkins, a Mormon, told members of a synagogue: "There are twelve tribes of Israel, and the Mormons happen to be one of them. That's my belief." Hawkins was undoubtedly helped by the Reagan landslide. At a rally in Miami, the G.O.P. candidate told a loudly cheering crowd: "I want Paula Hawkins there in Washington beside me." He got her.

Idaho. Frank Church, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was the No. 1 target of the Republicans. One after another, the big G.O.P. guns—Reagan, Gerald Ford, Senator Orrin Hatch—came to Idaho to fire away at the Senator. For more than a year, conservatives belonging to A.B.C. (Anybody But Church) had been sniping at him. Thrown on the defensive, Church, 56, had to spend most of his time explaining himself. In the end, Idahoans were unpersuaded and rejected him in favor of Republican Congressman Steven Symms, 42.