"As for Sen. Maurice Washington, I wonder how much the state party would rise to support him. I know there have been ethics charges lodged against him in the late '90s (I no longer recall what they were over), and that might hinder his efforts at running."
As this December 2002 newspaper article makes clear, the ethical charges against Senator Washington were rather trivial:
"State Sen. Maurice Washington, just re-elected to a third term, has been cleared by a Nevada Ethics Commission panel of allegations of conflict of interest and abuse of power.
Commissioners Bill Flangas and Lizzie Hatcher, both of Las Vegas, found there was insufficient evidence to go forward with a hearing before the full commission.
Washington, R-Sparks, had called the case frivolous and denied any wrongdoing.
The complaint was filed in August by Washoe County resident Joseph Donohue, who questioned Washington's role in running a public charter school out of his church; his misdemeanor charge for nonpayment of worker compensation insurance for the school; and his involvement in Reno halfway houses for parolees."
http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2002/Dec-04-Wed-2002/news/20196984.html I kept thinking it was longer ago than that. As I said before, it's just a question of whether he is even interested in running (he'll have to decide to run for that or for another term in the State Senate).