Former state Sen. Jon Porter is no stranger to Nevada campaign circuit. The long-time Nevadan is making his second bid for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives -- this time facing a tough race in the state's newly created 3rd Congressional District. But as former mayor and city councilman in Boulder City, he brings hometown experience to the contest.

Two years ago, Porter lost a bid for the 1st District seat to incumbent Democratic Representative Shelley Berkley, coming within 17,000 votes of knocking off the incumbent. In the newly drawn 3rd, Porter makes an even stronger candidate since he once served a large portion of the area as a state senator.

The race remains a close battle between Porter and Democratic opponent Dario Herrera, although recently the race has shifted in Porter's favor.

Herrera has been struggling against accusations he accepted illegal campaign contributions and received some $50,000 from the Las Vegas Housing Authority for public relations work without a contract and without going through the authority's mandatory bidding process.

Porter has garnered a double-digit lead in the race. The Las Vegas Review Journal and the Mason-Dixon polling firm in late August showed Porter leading Herrera by 11 percentage points.

Still, the outcome of the race will likely rest largely on volatile issues like Social Security and the controversy over using Nevada's Yucca Mountain as a nuclear waste depository. Porter said he does not support the Bush administration's decision to use Yucca Mountain to store nuclear waste, although many non-Nevada Republicans in the House and Senate voted for the plan, which passed in July 2002.

Meanwhile, at a candidate' forum in early September, Porter said that he supports efforts to allow younger workers to divert a small portion of their Social Security payroll taxes to private retirement plans while maintaining benefits for current recipients.

Porter was born on May 16, 1955 in Fort Dodge, Iowa and attended Briar Cliff College in Sioux City. He and his wife Laurie, a retired elementary school librarian, have two children, both of whom attend college in Nevada.

Porter started a small business in 1983 as an independent contractor with the Farmer's Insurance Group Corporation and since then has built his business up to include forty agents in southern Nevada. He was first elected to the state Senate in 1994, serving as Majority Whip, chairman of the Legislative Affairs and Operations Committee and sitting on the Government Affairs and Judiciary Committees.

Porter sponsored bills addressing growth management, education reform and homeowner protection measures. He has received endorsements from two law enforcement agencies, the Nevada Highway and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Managers and Supervisors Association.

He has also been able to gain momentum with support from former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who helped him with fundraising. By late August, the Federal Election Commission reported that Porter had spent $490,611 on his campaign and still had $829,955 in the bank.

--By Raven Tyler, Online NewsHour