From staff and A.P. reports

WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. Larry Craig, a conservative Republican from Idaho who has voted against same-sex marriage and opposes hate crimes protections for gay and lesbian crime victims, finds his political future in doubt after pleading guilty to misdemeanor charges stemming from complaints of lewd conduct in a men’s room.

The three-term senator, who has represented Idaho in Congress for more than a quarter-century, is up for re-election next year. He hasn’t said if he will run for a fourth term in 2008 and was expected to announce his plans this fall.

A spokesman, Sidney Smith, was uncertain late Aug. 27 if Craig’s guilty plea in connection with an incident at the Minneapolis airport would affect his re-election plans.

“It’s too early to talk about anything about that,” Smith said.

The married Craig, 62, has faced rumors about his sexuality since the 1980s, but allegations that he has engaged in gay sex have never been substantiated. Following news of his arrest in Minneapolis, the Idaho Statesman, the leading daily newspaper in Craig’s home state, revealed Aug. 28 that it had investigated allegations about Craig’s sexual behavior.

In that story, the Statesman said it had talked with a man who said he had oral sex with Craig in Washington’s Union Station in 2004, a man who said Craig made sexual advances toward him in 1967 and another man who said Craig “cruised” him at a store in Boise in 1994. The Statesman said it had also been unable to verify “dozens” of similar accounts.

Craig has repeatedly denied such allegations and has called them “ridiculous.”

The arrest changes that dynamic, said Jasper LiCalzi, a political science professor at Albertson College of Idaho in Caldwell, Idaho.

“There’s a chance that he’ll resign over this,” LiCalzi said. “With the pressure on the Republican Party, he could be pressured to resign. If they think this is going to be something that’s the same as Mark Foley—the sort of ‘drip, drip, drip, there’s more information that’s going to come out’—they may try to push him out.”

Already Craig has stepped down from a prominent role with Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign. He had been one of Romney’s top Senate supporters, serving as a Senate liaison for the campaign since February.

“He did not want to be a distraction and we accept his decision,” said Matt Rhoades, a Romney campaign spokesman.

According to a Hennepin County, Minn., court docket, Craig pleaded guilty to a disorderly conduct charge Aug. 8, with the court dismissing a charge of gross misdemeanor interference to privacy.

The court docket said Craig paid $575 in fines and fees and was put on unsupervised probation for a year. A sentence of 10 days in the county workhouse was stayed.

Roll Call, a Capitol Hill newspaper, which first reported the case, said on its Web site Aug. 27 that Craig was arrested June 11 by a plainclothes officer investigating complaints of lewd conduct in a men’s restroom at the airport.

Minneapolis airport police declined to provide a copy of the arrest report after business hours Aug. 27.

Roll Call, citing the report, said Sgt. Dave Karsnia made the arrest after an encounter in which he was seated in a stall next to a stall occupied by Craig. Karsnia described Craig tapping his foot, which Karsnia said he “recognized as a signal used by persons wishing to engage in lewd conduct.” Karsnia said Craig also exhibited other behavior consistent with soliciting a sexual response.

Roll Call quoted the Aug. 8 police report as saying that after his arrest Craig handed the arresting officer a business card that identified him as a member of the Senate.

“What do you think about that?” Craig is alleged to have said, according to the report.

Craig said in a statement issued by his office Aug. 27 that he was not involved in any inappropriate conduct.

“At the time of this incident, I complained to the police that they were misconstruing my actions,” he said. “I should have had the advice of counsel in resolving this matter. In hindsight, I should not have pled guilty. I was trying to handle this matter myself quickly and expeditiously.”

Craig, a rancher and a member of the National Rifle Association, was a member of the U.S. House for 10 years before winning election to the Senate in 1990. He was re-elected in 1996 and 2002.

Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, called Craig a hypocrite Aug. 27.

“What’s up with elected officials like Senator Craig? They stand for so-called family values and fight basic protections for gay people while furtively seeking other men for sex,” Foreman said.

Associated Press writers Matthew Daly in Washington, Steve Karnowski in Minneapolis and John Miller in Boise contributed to this story, along with CFP staff writer Gary Barlow.