PROVIDENCE — Days after dropping out of the race for Rhode Island attorney general, state Representative Robert Craven Sr. has resigned as chair of the House Judiciary Committee and will not seek re-election next year.
Craven, who said he will remain in his House seat representing North Kingstown until the end of his term, faced renewed scrutiny for past domestic violence arrests shortly after entering the race to be Rhode Island’s top prosecutor.
“In the best interests of my family, I have resigned as chair of the House Judiciary Committee,” Craven said in a statement Monday. “Through my seven years as chair, I was privileged to shepherd issues like women’s reproductive health, gun safety, and the environment that matter deeply to Rhode Islanders.”
Craven, 69, who was first elected to the House in 2012, told the Globe he was struggling with alcohol addiction at the time of the two arrests in the early 2000s, neither of which resulted in a conviction.
After announcing his campaign for attorney general last week, Craven told Globe columnist Dan McGowan he never laid a hand on his wife during the 2001 incident when he was charged with misdemeanor assault.
But Family Court records painted a different picture. In a request for a domestic restraining order, his wife wrote in a handwritten statement that her husband had been “verbally and physically abusive” during their marriage, and that he grabbed her by the throat and neck and pushed her to the ground during an argument in 2001.
She said Craven told her “I will kill you and don’t think I won’t do it.”
The couple later reconciled.
Craven dropped out of the attorney general race last week, shortly before WPRI-TV was expected to air a report with new details about his conduct.
“Although I have been sober for nearly 22 years, the behaviors from that period in my life will always be part of my story,” Craven said last week. “I must continue to have hope in redemption, not for myself, but for those of us who have made mistakes and who have to have hope in tomorrow.”
The Judiciary Committee considers legislation involving criminal conduct, including domestic violence.
Craven said he was grateful for colleagues and friends for their “support and understanding” over the past week.
It is not immediately clear who could take over as Judiciary chair. The state Legislature is not currently in session, and is slated to reconvene in January.
Keith Hoffmann, the former chief of the attorney general’s civil rights unit, and state Representative Jason Knight, both Democrats, are running to replace Attorney General Peter Neronha, who is term-limited. Multiple other candidates are considering getting into the race.
This story has been updated with material from previous Globe reporting.
Steph Machado can be reached at steph.machado@globe.com. Follow her @StephMachado.