NEW FACES IN THE SENATE

NEW FACES IN THE SENATE "THE GOOD MOUTH" "WE ELECTED A DEMOCRATIC WOMAN NAMED BARBARA AND SOMEBODY NAMED MIKULSKI, AND THE SENATE WON'T BE THE SAME FROM NOW ON!" THUS CROWED THE MARYLAND WINNER, A 4-FT. 11-IN. BUNDLE OF ENERGY WITH A VOICE LIKE A BALTIMORE HARBOR FOGHORN, ON ELECTION NIGHT. THE VICTORY CELEBRATION WAS INDEED HISTORIC: BARBARA MIKULSKI, 50, % THE GRANDDAUGHTER OF POLISH IMMIGRANTS, HAD SWEPT PAST REPUBLICAN LINDA CHAVEZ, 61% TO 39%, TO BECOME THE FIRST FEMALE DEMOCRAT

TO MAKE IT TO THE SENATE ON HER OWN, RATHER THAN IN THE FOOTSTEPS of a deceased husband.

Ronald Reagan, who campaigned in Maryland to defeat her, called Mikulski a "wily liberal." He was only half right. Liberal, certainly. Mikulski, a former social worker, got her start in politics almost 20 years ago by organizing a coalition of blacks and ethnics to block construction of a 16- lane highway that would have destroyed their homes. In five years on the Baltimore city council and five terms in Congress, she has defined her special constituencies as blue-collar workers, women, children and the aged.

But wily is about the last word Marylanders would apply to Mikulski. Blunt, outspoken and feisty would describe her better. She is a fierce debater, with a fondness for pointed quips. "I define public service as not only to be a help but to be an advocate," says Mikulski. In the Senate, she adds, "I plan to use the good mind, the good mouth, the good heart God gave me."

Southern Liberal

Lean, voluble Wyche Fowler of Georgia has been one of the few whites to represent a predominantly black district in Congress. Elected in 1977 to fill the Atlanta House seat that Andrew Young vacated to join the Carter Administration, Fowler went on to compile the most liberal voting record in Georgia's congressional delegation. Last week, when Fowler, 46, defeated Republican Incumbent Mack Mattingly, 51% to 49%, to win a seat in the Senate, he proved that even on a statewide level, Southern white liberals are not a vanishing species, after all.

Nowadays, however, Fowler presents himself as an independent-minded moderate rather than a down-the-line liberal. A former Army intelligence officer, Fowler has made military affairs a special interest, and on that subject he follows no particular ideological line. He has supported a nuclear freeze and strongly opposed the MX missile and B-1 bomber, largely because they drain away funds needed to maintain the readiness of conventional forces. But he is also an advocate of the Trident II submarine-launched missile and has voted for continued research on Star Wars while contending that the "important thing is to find a way to have meaningful and verifiable agreements between the Soviet Union and the U.S." In the House, Fowler gained a reputation for his congeniality and ability. Now that he is moving to the upper chamber, aides boast that he will be a "career Senator."

Ebullient Songster