For the House

SWITCH AND FIGHT. When two-term Congressman Eugene Atkinson changed his affiliation from Democrat to Republican a year ago, prospects for his re-election seemed rosy. His new G.O.P. friends promised to fill his coffers with cash and gerrymander his Fourth Congressional District in Pennsylvania to suit his new identity. They came through. Republican national organizations contributed $57,000 to his race against unknown Democrat Joseph Kolter, 56, and the state legislature cut the district's 45,000 Democratic edge in half. But few foresaw the ravages of recession in this steel-mill area, where unemployment has hit 20.4% in Beaver County. Kolter, a state legislator and former teacher, has attracted labor support in a spirited campaign depicting Atkinson, 55, as an opportunist who should be held responsible for his embrace of Reaganomics. Says Atkinson: "I have no problems being identified with the President."

COMBAT ZONE. At first, Margaret Heckler's campaign in the suburbs of Boston was so genteel it was virtually nonexistent. Republican Congresswoman Heckler, 51, whose eight terms make her the senior woman in Congress, ignored her opponent and ducked the press. But her Democratic foe, irrepressible Congressman Barney Frank, 42, is hard to high hat. The race for Massachusetts' Fourth Congressional District--one of six House contests in which redistricting has pitted incumbents against each other--has become both close and nasty. Heckler had an early edge, since 70% of the new district's population was drawn from her old constituents.

But Frank began to cut into her margin, especially in the Fall River mill area, where unemployment reached 15.5% this summer. His approach: link Heckler with the President's economic policies. A worried Heckler slashed back with fierce attacks on Frank's liberal record in the state legislature. The race is very close. A strong Democratic statewide slate, headed by U.S. Senator Edward M. Kennedy, is expected to help Frank.

NO LAUGHING MATTER. President Reagan came to Peoria last week bearing gifts: a significant reduction in federal loan rates for farmers and an extension of credits to spur agricultural exports. The occasion was an all-star rally for 13-term incumbent Republican Congressman Robert Michel, 59. In the 18th Congressional District race in central Illinois, originally expected to be a laugher for Michel, who is the House minority leader, Democratic Newcomer G. Douglas Stephens, 31, a lawyer, is coming on strong. He has been effective at mining the discontent of the hard-hit farm and factory constituency. He has linked Michel, the President's point man in Congress, to Reaganomics and blamed him for not changing Reagan's mind on the Soviet pipeline sanctions, which are unpopular in an area where some pipeline equipment would have been made. But this mostly Republican district still seems inclined to heed the President's plea for patience and not add Michel's name to Peoria's list of 20,000 unemployed.

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