Jim Gibbons was elected Nevada governor in 2006, defeating Dina Titus, then the Democratic minority leader in the state Senate, by a 48-44 percent margin.

He first was elected to the Nevada State Assembly in 1988 and served three terms there. He resigned just after his 1990 re-election to serve as a pilot in the Persian Gulf War. His wife, Dawn, was named to fill in for him. Re-elected in 1992, he served as Republican whip during the 1993 session.

He ran unsuccessfully for governor in 1994, losing to incumbent Democratic Gov. Bob Miller by a vote of 200,026 to 156,875.

He was then elected to represent Nevada's 2nd Congressional District in 1996 and easily won re-election to four more terms.

In March 2009, Gibbons was already facing primary opponents in his 2010 race for re-election. Former state Sen. Joe Heck and North Las Vegas Mayor Mike Montanan said they planned to challenge the governor for the Republican nomination.

On the Democratic side, U.S. Senator Majority Leader Harry Reid's son, Clark County Commissioner Rory Reid, and Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley were expected to run.

(Last updated by Kathleen Hennessey on March 18, 2009.)

Editor's note (July 15, 2009): 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 intends to seek re-election in 2012.

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John Ensign was first elected to the Senate when he defeated Democrat Ed Bernstein in 2000's race, which opened up when the Democratic incumbent, Richard Bryan, decided against a re-election bid. Ensign took 55 percent of the vote over Bernstein.

Ensign defeated Democratic challenger Jack Carter, the son of former President Jimmy Carter, in his 2006 re-election bid with 55 percent of the vote.

Ensign ran successfully for the U.S. House in 1994 and again in 1996. After two terms in the House, Ensign ran against U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., in 1998, and narrowly lost.

(Last updated by Kathleen Hennessey on March 18, 2009.)

Harry Reid was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1986, with 52 percent of the vote, defeating Republican James D. Santini, a former congressman. Incumbent Republican Sen. Paul Laxalt retired instead of running for re-election that year.

Reid easily won a second term in the Senate in 1992, defeating Republican Demar Dahl by more than 53,000 votes.

In winning a third term in 1998, Reid squeaked by challenger John Ensign, then a Republican congressman, by just 428 votes out of more than 400,000 cast. He was re-elected in 2004, defeating Republican Richard Ziser with 61 percent of the vote.

Reid was elected to the Nevada state assembly in 1968, and in 1970 won his first statewide contest to become Nevada's lieutenant governor.

In 1974, he narrowly lost a U.S. Senate race to Paul Laxalt, and lost a race for mayor of Las Vegas a year later. Reid then served as chairman of the state Gaming Commission from 1977 to 1981.

He was elected to the U.S. House in 1982, with 58 percent of the vote, defeating Republican Peggy Cavnar, a former state assemblywoman, in a newly designed district.

Reid was re-elected in 1984, with 56 percent of the vote, beating Cavnar.

(Last updated by Kevin Freking on March 25, 2009.)