Sen. Larry Craig
Former Senator for Idaho
![Photo of Sen. Larry Craig [R-ID, 1991-2008]](/static/legislator-photos/300029-200px.jpeg)
Misconduct
In 2007 Craig pleaded guilty to using his status to receive special treatment and using campaign funds to pay legal expenses stemming from an arrest and guilty plea on disorderly conduct at the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport (also in 2007). The Senate Select Committee on Ethics admonished the senator on both counts. He retired at the end of his term in 2008 and as of 2016 has been ordered to personally pay for legal fees incurred that had previously been paid with campaign funds.
| 2007 | Senator Craig was arrested for lewd conduct pleaded to disorderly conduct and subsequently attempted to withdraw his guilty plea. He retired at the end of his term in 2008 and as of 2016 has been ordered to personally pay for legal fees incurred that had previously been paid with campaign funds. |
| Feb. 13, 2008 | Senate Select Committee on Ethics admonished the senator on both counts |
Analysis
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Craig is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot was a member of the Senate in 2008 positioned according to our ideology score (left to right) and our leadership score (leaders are toward the top).
The chart is based on the bills Craig sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 7, 2003 to Dec 11, 2008. See full analysis methodology.
Enacted Legislation
Craig was the primary sponsor of 31 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:
- S. 916 (110th): Minidoka National Historic Site Act of 2007
- S. 220 (110th): Southern Idaho Bureau of Reclamation Repayment Act of 2007
- S. 3421 (109th): Veterans Benefits, Health Care, and Information Technology Act of 2006
- S. 1131 (109th): Idaho Land Enhancement Act
- S. 2562 (109th): Veterans’ Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2006
- S. 1235 (109th): Veterans’ Housing Opportunity and Benefits Improvement Act of 2006
- S. 2035 (109th): A bill to extend the time required for construction of a hydroelectric project in the State of Idaho, and for other purposes.
Does 31 not sound like a lot? Very few bills are ever enacted — most legislators sponsor only a handful that are signed into law. But there are other legislative activities that we don’t track that are also important, including offering amendments, committee work and oversight of the other branches, and constituent services.
We consider a bill enacted if one of the following is true: a) it is enacted itself, b) it has a companion bill in the other chamber (as identified by Congress) which was enacted, or c) if at least about half of its provisions were incorporated into bills that were enacted (as determined by an automated text analysis, applicable beginning with bills in the 110th Congress).
Bills Sponsored
Issue Areas
Craig sponsored bills primarily in these issue areas:
Government Operations and Politics (20%) Armed Forces and National Security (15%) Law (13%) Economics and Public Finance (12%) Social Welfare (12%) Health (10%) Public Lands and Natural Resources (10%) Families (9%)
Recently Introduced Bills
Craig recently introduced the following legislation:
- S. 16 (110th): A bill to provide for certain land to be held in trust …
- S. 3516 (110th): Idaho Efficient Vehicle Demonstration Act of 2008
- S. 2953 (110th): DOES Act
- S. 2646 (110th): A bill for the relief of Thomas Stephen Long, Patricia Merryl Long, …
- S. 2582 (110th): A bill for the relief of Sali Bregaj, Mjaftime Bregaj, and Nertila …
- S. 1802 (110th): Idaho Wilderness Boundary Modification Act of 2008
- S. 1803 (110th): Idaho Land Conveyance Act of 2007
View All » | View Cosponsors »
Most legislation has no activity after being introduced.
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Jan 1991 to Dec 2008, Craig missed 86 of 6,087 roll call votes, which is 1.4%. This is better than the median of 2.2% among the lifetime records of senators serving in Dec 2008. The chart below reports missed votes over time.
We don’t track why legislators miss votes, but it’s often due to medical absenses, major life events, and running for higher office.
Primary Sources
The information on this page is originally sourced from a variety of materials, including:
- unitedstates/congress-legislators, a community project gathering congressional information
- The House and Senate websites, for committee membership and voting records
- United States Congressional Roll Call Voting Records, 1789-1990 by Howard L. Rosenthal and Keith T. Poole.
- Martis’s “The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress”, via Keith Poole’s roll call votes data set, for political party affiliation for Members of Congress from 1789 through about year 2000
- Congressional Pictorial Directory for the photo
- GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills
