SHE SWEPT INTO WASHINGTON last January, one of the new-wave Republican firebrands, promising an end to business as usual on Capitol Hill. In the months since, Rep. Enid Waldholtz of Salt Lake City has looked every bit the rising GOP star. A hard-line conservative and devoted acolyte of House Speaker Newt Gingrich, she became the Republicans' family-values poster mom with the birth of her daughter Elizabeth in August (PEOPLE, NOV. 6), making her only the second U.S. representative to have a child while in office.

Last week, though, the onetime corporate lawyer's career seemed about to unravel after her husband of two years, Joe Waldholtz, 32, treasurer of her election campaign, disappeared on Saturday, Nov. 11, amid questions of campaign finance irregularities. A federal arrest warrant has been issued. On Tuesday an indignant Representative Waldholtz, 37, declared, "I want this man tracked down, arrested and punished for what he has done to me, my family and the people of Utah." By Tuesday afternoon she had filed for divorce and announced that she would seek sole custody of Elizabeth.

If her anger was understandable, her professed surprise was perplexing. During her bitterly contested congressional race last year against Democrat Karen Shepherd, there were already rumblings that Joe, a 300-pound Republican operative whom Enid called "my Adonis," was playing fast and loose with the finances. Campaign checks bounced, and American Express sued Joe for payment of a $47,000 credit-card balance. The Utah press also questioned how a whopping $1.8 million appeared in Waldholtz's coffers as Election Day drew near. Waldholtz blamed the apparent irregularities on "bookkeeping errors." Now authorities suspect that Joe, who bolted from Washington's National Airport, may have looted as much as $2 million from campaign and personal accounts. As for Enid, she is asking her constituents for understanding. "I trusted him. I was wrong," she said. "We all deserve to know the truth."