Paula Hawkins, 82, Florida Ex-Senator, Dies
WASHINGTON — Paula Hawkins, a tart-tongued conservative Republican who served a single term as a senator from Florida, fighting to protect children and blazing a trail for women while shunning the label of “feminist,” died Friday in Orlando, Fla. She was 82 and lived in Winter Park, Fla.
The cause was complications of a fall after several health problems, including a stroke, in recent years, her daughter Genean McKinnon said.
In her 1980 campaign, Mrs. Hawkins described herself as “feminine” as distinct from “feminist.” Her opposition to abortion rights and the Equal Rights Amendment made her anathema to the National Organization for Women, which picketed her appearances and accused her of embracing positions strictly in accordance with her Mormon faith.
Mrs. Hawkins was elected in the Reagan landslide, and despite the opposition of NOW, her victory scored some firsts for women. She was the first woman elected to a full Senate term without being preceded in politics by a husband or father. (Hazel Abel of Nebraska, who also had no political family ties, was elected to the Senate in 1954, but only to serve the final two months of the term of the incumbent, who had died in office.) She was also the first woman to be a senator from Florida.
At a news conference soon after her victory, a male television reporter condescendingly asked Mrs. Hawkins who would do the laundry now that she was going to be busy in the Senate.
“I don’t really think you need to worry about my laundry,” she replied, smiling with her lips but not with her eyes. “O.K.?”
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The cause was complications of a fall after several health problems, including a stroke, in recent years, her daughter Genean McKinnon said.
In her 1980 campaign, Mrs. Hawkins described herself as “feminine” as distinct from “feminist.” Her opposition to abortion rights and the Equal Rights Amendment made her anathema to the National Organization for Women, which picketed her appearances and accused her of embracing positions strictly in accordance with her Mormon faith.
Mrs. Hawkins was elected in the Reagan landslide, and despite the opposition of NOW, her victory scored some firsts for women. She was the first woman elected to a full Senate term without being preceded in politics by a husband or father. (Hazel Abel of Nebraska, who also had no political family ties, was elected to the Senate in 1954, but only to serve the final two months of the term of the incumbent, who had died in office.) She was also the first woman to be a senator from Florida.
At a news conference soon after her victory, a male television reporter condescendingly asked Mrs. Hawkins who would do the laundry now that she was going to be busy in the Senate.
“I don’t really think you need to worry about my laundry,” she replied, smiling with her lips but not with her eyes. “O.K.?”