Boise, Idaho – In 27 years as an Idaho congressman and senator, Larry Craig had been a strong advocate for Republican positions on major issues in the West, including gun control and the use of public lands as timber and oil resources. He took conservative positions on abortion and gay-rights issues.
But his long legislative record could not save him as he announced his resignation Saturday, abruptly ending his congressional career amid reports that he had solicited sex in an airport restroom.
It was the end of a stunning week in which Craig fell from senior senator to Republican Party outcast. His resignation is effective the end of this month.
“What is best for Idaho has always been the focus of my efforts, and it is no different today,” said Craig, standing with family members and a handful of prominent state Republicans, including Gov. C.L. Otter.
“To Idahoans I represent, to my staff, my Senate colleagues, but most importantly, to my wife and my family, I apologize for what I have caused,” he said. “I am deeply sorry.”
After serving a decade in the House and nearly 17 years in the Senate, Craig had suddenly faced overwhelming pressure from Republican leaders determined to prevent the matter from becoming a burden in the autumn congressional session and next year’s elections.
“For any public official at this moment in time to be standing with Larry Craig is in itself a humbling experience,” Craig said.
Otter, a Republican, said Saturday that he had not decided whom to name as a replacement.
Craig also made his mark in Congress fighting Democrats on proposals to protect salmon whose migration is blocked by dams that provide hydroelectric power and water to Idaho and other states. And he pushed to expand nuclear energy projects in Idaho and elsewhere and to provide aid to rural areas hurt by declines in federal timber harvests.
Craig’s announcement Saturday did not directly address the events that led to his resignation. He did suggest that he planned to go to court to try to reverse the guilty plea he entered to a charge of disorderly conduct in a men’s restroom in June at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
“To pursue my legal options as I continue to serve Idaho would be an unwanted and unfair distraction of my job and for my Senate colleagues,” he said.
Many people in Idaho said they were in disbelief at the turn of events. Many also were relieved at their resolution.
“This shouldn’t be happening,” said Pat Doty, 76, one of scores of people who came to watch the announcement at the historic Boise Depot overlooking downtown and the Boise Front mountains.
But several people also cheered when the senator reached the point in his speech when he said he would resign, and a small group of protesters carried signs mocking his reported conduct.
Few prominent Republicans in Idaho had defended Craig, but many expressed sympathy and gratitude for a powerful senator who had supported their campaigns and brought millions of dollars in federal money to Idaho. Bill Sali, one of the state’s two congressmen, stood with the senator on Saturday, as did Sali’s wife, Terry, and Otter’s wife, Lori.
Otter, known as Butch, was widely believed to be leaning toward selecting the lieutenant governor, James E. Risch, to complete Craig’s term, which ends in January 2009.
But Otter, who has a tendency to defy expectations, said he would name a successor “when I’m ready.”
“Jim Risch is very electable, as he’s just proved” with a wide margin of victory last fall in the lieutenant governor’s race, said Norm Semanko, a Republican advocate from Eagle, Idaho.
The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times contributed to this report.
