Not every Republican is running away from Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) as revelations about his love triangle with two former staffers threatens to tank his career.
Sue Lowden, among a field of Republicans hoping to challenge Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in Nevada, had some warm words for Ensign over the weekend.
Lowden told the newspaper in Elko she wants Ensign to campaign for her:
She also said Friday she stood by her comments that she hopes to see Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., campaigning for Republicans in Nevada. Democrats criticized her earlier for saying she didn’t think Ensign should resign after he confessed to an affair with a staffer. Ensign is under fire against this week over new disclosures related to the affair.
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee plans to ask the other candidates if they agree with her, and to note national Republicans have distanced themselves from Ensign since he admitted having an affair with a staffer.
“Sue Lowden’s support of John Ensign may have fundraising value to her, but it is a reflection of her own character and fitness for office. She has shown more fidelity to him, than he has shown to his own wife,” DSCC spokesman Eric Schultz will say in a press release today.
Lowden, a former state party chairwoman and state senator, announced her candidacy last week and will be one of 9 Republicans hoping to pull a “Daschle” on Reid next fall.
On the stump, Lowden paints Reid as a government-can-solve-anything Democrat and says he’s “in lock step” with President Obama and Speaker Nancy Pelosi, according to the Elko Daily.
Late update: The National Republican Senatorial Committee isn’t worried as officials there still consider Reid a top target.
“The problem for Democrats next year is that Harry Reid is on the ballot, not John Ensign, and this election will be a referendum on Harry Reid,” said NRSC spokesman Brian Walsh.
Walsh pointed out Reid’s approval ratings are among the lowest of incumbents, making the leader “uniquely vulnerable.”
NRSC officials have said they have no plans to endorse a candidate. Among the field, Lowden and Danny Tarkanian lead Reid in early polls.
