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 CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) - Sen. John Ensign, dogged by ethics allegations and questions about an extramarital affair with a former aide, has vowed not to resign. But if Nevada's junior senator were to leave office, voluntarily or otherwise, the timing of his departure could set up a dizzying candidate shuffle and help determine Republican chances of retaining the seat.
Once viewed as a rising star of the conservative right with presidential potential, Ensign confessed in June to having an affair with campaign staffer, Cindy Hampton, the wife of a top aide in his Senate office.
Since then, revelations of nearly $100,000 paid to the couple by Ensign's parents and claims by Doug Hampton, his mistress' husband, that Ensign improperly set him up in a lobbying job have led to a preliminary ethics inquiry and a request for a Justice Department criminal probe.
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