Changes

==Political life==

==Political life==

In 1980, Denton was elected to the U.S. Senate. First, he easily defeated Armistead Inge Selden, Jr. (1921-1985), a [[primary]] rival supported by the [[Republican Party|GOP]] establishment. Then Denton defeated [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] James Elisha "Jim" Folsom, Jr. (born 1949), with 50.2 percent of the vote. Folson was subsequently [[governor]] for two years and the son of former Governor James Folsom, Sr. (1908-1987). Folsom had unseated the short-term Senator Donald Wilbur Stewart, who had won the seat in a [[special election]] in 1978 over fellow Democrat Maryon Pittman Allen (1925-2018), the widow of [[conservative]] Democratic Senator [[James B. Allen]]. He was aided in his election by the presence of [[Ronald Reagan]] heading the Republican presidential ticket against [[Jimmy Carter]] of neighboring [[Georgia]]. In the Senate, he concentrated on family issues and worked for passage in 1981 of the Adolescent Family Life Act, often derided by critics as the "Chastity bill."<ref>'Teen-age Chastity Bill' designed to care for pregnant girls - UPI Archives, accessed October 27, 2021.</ref> Denton established the Coalition for Decency, which proposed to clean up [[television]] by urging [[boycott]s of sponsors that promoted sexual promiscuity.<ref name=destroyer/> He also focused on national security as the chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Security and Terrorism.<ref>Document - Statement by Senator Jeremiah Denton Before the Subcommittee on Security and Terrorism February 2, 1983 | Office of Justice Programs (ojp.gov), accessed October 27, 2021.</ref>

In 1980, Denton was elected to the U.S. Senate. First, he easily defeated Armistead Inge Selden, Jr. (1921-1985), a [[primary]] rival supported by the [[Republican Party|GOP]] establishment. Then Denton defeated [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] James Elisha "Jim" Folsom, Jr. (born 1949), with 50.2 percent of the vote. Folson was subsequently [[governor]] for two years and the son of former Governor James Folsom, Sr. (1908-1987). Folsom had unseated the short-term Senator Donald Wilbur Stewart, who had won the seat in a [[special election]] in 1978 over fellow Democrat Maryon Pittman Allen (1925-2018), the widow of [[conservative]] Democratic Senator [[James B. Allen]]. He was aided in his election by the presence of [[Ronald Reagan]] heading the Republican presidential ticket against [[Jimmy Carter]] of neighboring [[Georgia]]. In the Senate, he concentrated on family issues and worked for passage in 1981 of the Adolescent Family Life Act, often derided by critics as the "Chastity bill."<ref>'Teen-age Chastity Bill' designed to care for pregnant girls - UPI Archives, accessed October 27, 2021.</ref> Denton established the Coalition for Decency, which proposed to clean up [[television]] by urging [[boycott]s of sponsors that promoted sexual promiscuity.<ref name=destroyer/> He also focused on national security as the chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Security and Terrorism.<ref>Document - Statement by Senator Jeremiah Denton Before the Subcommittee on Security and Terrorism February 2, 1983|Office of Justice Programs (ojp.gov), accessed October 27, 2021.</ref>

In 1986, a heavily Democrat year, he was narrowly unseated by then Democrat and later [[Moderate Republican]] [[Richard Shelby]], who is retiring in January 2023.<ref name=destroyer/> In that same election, however, Republican Harold Guy Hunt (1933-2009 won the Alabama governor's race, reversing a large defeat eight years earlier.

In 1986, a heavily Democrat year, he was narrowly unseated by then Democrat and later [[Moderate Republican]] [[Richard Shelby]], who is retiring in January 2023.<ref name=destroyer/> In that same election, however, Republican Harold Guy Hunt (1933-2009 won the Alabama governor's race, reversing a large defeat eight years earlier.