Senator Craig Flushes Any Hope for Re-election

Three-term U.S. Senator Larry Craig did not file for re-election by his state’s March 21 deadline.

Three-term U.S. Senator Larry Craig (R-Idaho), who became the subject of controversy and late night television jokes because of his arrest in a sex sting, did not file for re-election by his state’s March 21 deadline. Craig had pledged he wouldn’t seek the position again after news broke in late August about his June arrest for soliciting sex from an undercover officer in a Minneapolis airport restroom.

Initially, Craig pleaded guilty, but he maintained his innocence when the story became public. He said a “wide stance” was the cause of the aggressive footwork that the officer in the stall next to him interpreted as a sexual advance. In a press conference held in September, with his wife Suzanne at his side, he declared, “I am not gay. I never have been gay.” The process to overturn his guilty plea continues in the Minnesota Court of Appeals.


What Do You Think?