WASHINGTON — Sen. Larry E. Craig, R-Idaho, plans to resign his seat today after Republican leaders put intense pressure on him to leave in the aftermath of an undercover sex sting, Republican Party officials said Friday.
Through intermediaries and unusually harsh public statements and actions, party officials made it clear they wanted Craig to quit before Congress returns from its summer recess next week, hoping to quickly
conclude an embarrassing episode that threatened to complicate an already difficult election cycle for Senate Republicans.
Republican Party officials said Friday evening that they had been notified of Craig's intention to give up his seat as of Sept. 30 and that Gov. C.L. Otter, a Republican, would name a replacement.
The disclosure of Craig's guilty plea to a misdemeanor charge resulting from his arrest in the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport in early June was not the only political setback suffered by Republicans this week. On Friday, Sen. John Warner, R-Va., the former Navy secretary and an influential party voice on military policy, announced in Charlottesville that he would not seek a sixth term in 2008, giving Democrats a better chance at that seat.
Late Friday, Craig's office scheduled a public announcement for this morning in Boise, but aides would not publicly disclose his plans. National Republican officials, in what appeared to be a coordinated message, left no doubt what they would prefer.
For four days, Republican officials engaged in an almost unprecedented campaign to persuade Craig to step down. Speaking to reporters in his home state of Kentucky, Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, on Thursday called Craig's conduct "unforgivable."
Sen. John Ensign of Nevada, who chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee, raised the prospect of public ethics hearings should Craig remain in office.
Senators also privately discussed the idea of withholding any political support from Craig should he try to run for re-election, according to aides.
Officials at the Republican National Committee, the center of party political operations, readied a news release calling for Craig to resign but withheld it after they learned that Idaho Republicans, including representatives of the governor's office, were interceding with representatives of Craig to urge him to step down.
The Republican leadership had called for an ethics inquiry and stripped him of his leadership posts on three committees following Craig's guilty plea at the beginning of August to what an undercover officer described as a sexual advance in a men's restroom at the airport.
Despite such unusual steps against a Senate colleague, Republicans took no punitive action against Sen. David Vitter, R-La., after his acknowledgment earlier this summer of involvement with an escort service that police have described as a prostitution front.
Party officials said Vitter's case was different in that he faced no criminal charges. But with regard Craig, they said experience from a recent string of misconduct cases, including the House page scandal that hurt Republicans last year, has shown that there is no time to waste if the political fallout is to be minimized.
"We have learned we have to move quickly," said a senior Senate official who did not want to be identified discussing the political ramifications of Craig's case>
The White House added to the pressure on Craig, expressing disappointment with the senator's conduct. But the Bush administration has stopped short of calling for Craig's direct ouster, instead encouraging the Senate to take action on its own. On Friday, Tony Snow, the White House press secretary, said, "it ought to be handled by the Senate." He added, "We would expect them to do the requisite policing of their members and to uphold their own high standards."
Speaking later, a White House official said the administration was stepping gingerly in a situation over which it had no control, and which could only come out the worse for trying to insert itself. Some Republicans still hold it against Bush and former adviser Karl Rove for interceding too directly in removing Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., from his leadership post in 2002 after he made what some saw as racially charged comments.
"There's no way to win or react to the question," this official said. "It's a problem that Sen. Craig and his colleagues need to deal with."
Though major Idaho newspapers joined with national party officials in calling for Craig to resign, prominent Republicans in Idaho were largely silent, except for measured statements of personal support and gratitude for his service in Congress.
"He's a friend and colleague and he's helped a lot of them on their election campaigns," said Bryan Fischer, director of the Idaho Values Alliance, a conservative group that has been one of the few prominent voices in the state to call for resignation. "This is a small state. It's just really hard to do anything that makes it look like you're turning on your friends."
Some state officials stood by him. John Keenan, who served as legislative director for Craig when he was a congressman in the 1980s and is now the assistant attorney general in Idaho, said prominent Republicans had not approached the senator about resignation because "they're strong supporters of this gentleman."
"The whole thing is a little crazy event that has only been burning through the gossip within a matter of hours or days," Keenan said. "How do you ask him to execute his political life. I don't think anyone in good judgment can do that."
Unless Craig were to seek re-election, Republicans were confident they could hold the seat in the conservative state. But analysts said national political damage could stem from the continued impression of congressional Republicans skirting the law after two House members were jailed on corruption charges and other Republicans in the House and Senate remain under federal investigation, along with Rep. William Jefferson, D-La.
"It feeds an existing problem that Republicans have, which is one of ethics and scandal that has been building for a couple of years," said Stuart Rothenberg, a nonpartisan political analyst. "The Republican brand has been damaged and these kinds of headlines don't do anything to resurrect the brand."
Strategists for both parties said the revelation that former Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., had sent sexually explicit messages to under-age pages cost Republicans in 2006, particularly since it came just weeks before the voting.
Republicans were already at a disadvantage in next year's Senate contest, having to defend 22 seats against 12 for the Democrats. And a handful of those seats are in states that have been trending against Republicans such as Colorado, Minnesota, New Hampshire and now Virginia.
Republican strategists acknowledge the challenge but say they are up to it. They note that Democrats have candidates running in Republican leaning states such as Louisiana and Arkansas.
"We have strong candidates in vulnerable states," said Rebecca Fisher, a spokeswoman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee. "We don't have vulnerable candidates."