Sen. Ensign won't resign, will seek re-election

LAS VEGAS — Republican Sen. John Ensign says he has no plans to resign despite his affair with a staffer's wife and his parents' $96,000 payout to the woman's family, and will seek re-election in 2012.

1. Other political news of note
   1. Romney warns of perils of shrinking military

      Mitt Romney took advantage of one of his largest crowds of the campaign season on Memorial Day to warn of the dangers of a shrinking U.S. military in a dangerous world.

   2. Obama honors fallen troops on Memorial Day
   3. At West Point, Biden warns of new challenges
   4. This summer in Congress, electioneering meets lawmaking
   5. Obama's continued assault on Romney's corporate pedigree

The embattled lawmaker told the Las Vegas Sun he has received calls and e-mails of encouragement from supporters in Nevada and Washington, D.C.

"I fully plan on running for re-election," Ensign said. "I'm going to work to earn their respect back."

The two-term Republican senator also says his support is coming from fellow senators as well as those "on both sides" of Senate leadership. He says supporters are telling him, "Keep your head up. This thing will pass."

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, asked if he still supports Ensign, told the Sun, "Well, I think Senator Ensign will have to speak to those issues himself."