Senator’s affair leads to drop in approval

Published on June 21, 2009 on tothecenter.com

Following Nevada Sen. John Ensign’s Tuesday’s admittance of having an extramarital affair, his approval rating has plummeted.

A poll conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Inc., only 39 percent of Nevada voters view him favorably, and a whopping 37 percent view him negatively.

In May, Las Vegas Review-Journal conducted a poll and Ensign had a 53 percent approval rating, and only 18 percent of voters viewed him negatively.

Despite this, a survey from Thursday that POLITICO reported upon, 62 percent of voters don’t think he should resign.

According to POLITICO, the affair lasted from December 2007 until August 2008 with Cynthia Hampton, a former staffer. Aids to Ensign have said that her husband Doug Hampton, who also used to work for Ensign, tried to blackmail the senator.

On Monday, Ensign will return to Washington, though his office has declined to provide details to what he will be doing.