Some retirement announcements are devastating news for a political party. When Byron Dorgan, the Democratic Senator from North Dakota, stated early last year that he would not seek re-election, Democrats went from having a seat that they were favored to retain to one that they would almost certainly lose — which they did by 51 points last November. 
 
 There are rare occasions, however, on which a candidate can do his party a favor by dropping out of the running. For instance: Republicans may have been the beneficiaries today when the embattled Senator John Ensign of Nevada announced that he wouldn’t seek another term. 
 
 With an approval rating below 40 percent, Mr. Ensign probably would not have escaped a primary challenge, let alone gotten re-elected. Nor, in all likelihood, would he have won the primary; instead, polls suggested that another candidate, U.S. Rep. Dean Heller, was the favorite. 
 
 Still, there was always the chance that something could go wrong, especially if multiple candidates entered the race — and things certainly went wrong for Republicans in 2010, when the unpopular Sharron Angle became their Senate candidate in Nevada. And primaries can be expensive, both in terms of the monetary expenditure required and the need to appeal to one’s partisan base rather than to swing voters. 
 
 Mr. Heller could conceivably receive a primary challenge as well from Ms. Angle or another candidate. But his favorability rating among Republican voters is quite strong, and he has a fairly conservative voting record, making a Tea Party challenge less likely. In addition, many Republicans expressed buyer’s remorse after nominating Ms. Angle in 2010, so electability is liable to be the order of the day. 
 
 If Mr. Heller is the Republican nominee, he is likely to be a strong general election candidate. He is well-known to Nevadans, having been their Secretary of State for 12 years before entering Congress. He avoided voting for the Troubled Asset Relief Program. And a recent Public Policy Polling survey suggests that about twice as many Nevadans have a favorable impression of Mr. Heller as an unfavorable one. 
 
 Mr. Heller, moreover, won election by 5 percentage points in 2006 and re-election by 10 points in 2008, two years that were otherwise tough for Republicans. Although his district — which comprises essentially all of Nevada outside the Las Vegas metro area (as well as a few Las Vegas exurbs) — has traditionally been Republican-leaning, it has become much less so over time. In 2000, George W. Bush defeated Al Gore in the district by 20 percentage points. But Barack Obama and John McCain each received 49 percent of the vote there in 2008. 
 
 The increasing Democratic tilt of Nevada, of course, is also why Mr. Heller is no shoo-in. The state has increased the share of the vote it gave to the Democratic presidential candidate in each of the past seven elections, and by 2008 had become slightly more Democratic-leaning than the country as a whole. 
 
 Still, this advantage is fairly marginal for Democrats. Although they can be pleased with having elected Senator Reid in 2010, his son Rory lost the gubernatorial election by 12 percentage points. And U.S. Rep Dana Titus narrowly lost her re-election bid to Republican Joe Heck in Nevada’s 3rd congressional district. 
 
 The prospective Democratic candidates, like U.S. Rep. Shelley Berkley and Secretary of State Ross Miller, are not necessarily weak. But Mr. Heller is a strong candidate who became a little stronger today, and that is enough to make him a slight favorite. ||||| The departure of Republican Sen. John Ensign — along with the considerable baggage of an affair and an ongoing Senate ethics inquiry — enhances Republican chances of holding his Nevada Senate seat and could allow the party to avoid a messy primary fight. 
 
 “I think he did it for his family, but it also benefits the party,” said Nevada GOP consultant Ryan Erwin. “Ensign doing this early is, in many ways, a favor to the party because it allows time to sort it out.” 
 
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 At a news conference in Las Vegas on Monday, Ensign, 52, said he didn’t want to put his family through what would have been a brutal rehashing of the history of his affair with a former top aide’s wife. 
 
 “I do not want to put my family, those that I care about, or this state, through what would be a very ugly campaign that would ultimately cause a great deal more pain than has already been felt as a result of my actions,” he said, standing beside his wife and children. “At this point in my life, I have to put my family first.” 
 
 But the political writing was already on the wall — in the form of polling numbers that showed him getting trounced in a GOP primary as well as an ongoing Senate ethics inquiry delving into the actions he took to minimize the fallout. 
 
 Nevada GOP national committeewoman Heidi Smith said that while Ensign made a valiant effort at rehabilitating himself, his retirement decision is the result of the cool reception he was receiving around the state during a string of town hall meetings. 
 
 “The response has not been tremendously warm, I think that’s what told him what to do,” said Smith. “It will make it easier. There are some people who can get forgiven and move on. He’s tried to come back, and it just isn’t there.” 
 
 Republicans appear to be placing their bets on third-term Rep. Dean Heller, who racked up 63 percent of the vote last year and outperformed both Sen. Harry Reid and Sharron Angle in critical Washoe County. 
 
 Heller’s campaign team has already polled the race and some Republicans expect him to launch a campaign in the coming days. 
 
 On Monday, the congressman issued only a three-line statement that did not touch on his own aspirations. 
 
 “This must have been a very difficult decision for John to make. He and his family have been through a lot. Lynne and I wish them the very best,” Heller said. 
 
 While Republicans see Heller as their strongest potential nominee, some doubt his fire in the belly after he dithered for months, then decided against a 2010 run against Reid. A former three-term secretary of state, the blond Mormon with a laid-back demeanor has run statewide, but not since 2002. Democrats believe he’d have to reintroduce himself to the bulk of the state’s voters and would have a hard time appealing to Hispanics considering the hard line he’s taken on immigration.
– You won’t find many Republicans shedding tears over John Ensign's resignation. Most seem overjoyed that the scandal-plagued congressman is out of the picture, potentially sparing heir apparent Dean Heller a messy primary battle, Politico observes. “I think he did it for his family, but it also benefits the party,” said one Nevada GOP consultant. “Ensign doing this early is, in many ways, a favor to the party because it allows time to sort it out.” Ensign, proud owner of a sub-40% approval rating, “probably would not have escaped a primary challenge, let alone gotten reelected,” writes Nate Silver of the New York Times. Heller has a strong favorability rating and should be a slight favorite in the general election. Of course, there might still be a primary—Sharron Angle’s still out there—but “many Republicans expressed buyer’s remorse after nominating Ms. Angle in 2010, so electability is liable to be the order of the day.”