Porter adjusts to life out of public office, stays optimistic

Southern Nevadans recognize Jon Porter when he is out and about and still ask him for help with their problems. Even though he lost his House seat a year ago to Dina Titus, some still think he's their congressman.

Amazingly, Porter tries to help. He takes the information and forwards it to whatever office might be able to help.

Sometimes they ask him to run against Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, an option he rejected earlier this year. Sometimes they urge him to run for governor.

Now is not the time, he tells them. However, at 54, he's not saying he'll never run again for office. "I would like to serve again sometime," Porter said. After all, he has spent 25 years -- nearly half his life -- as an elected official. His political career started in 1983, when he was elected to the Boulder City Council, then became mayor. He became a state senator in 1993, and in 2002 was elected to the first of three terms in the House.

Voters wanted change in 2008, tossing Republican Porter for Democrat Titus. She won by nearly 18,000 votes in a district with 39,000 more Democrats. Her victory occurred in a year where the Democratic get-out-the-vote effort for Barack Obama was phenomenal and the Republican get-out-the-vote effort for John McCain was pitiful.

Porter isn't angry about losing. "It's not about the loss of the title. I was a realist and realized it could always end."

When it ended, he was stressed by the uncertainty of what he would do next. Teach? Lobby? Return to working in insurance? Run for another office? What will he do?

After the 2008 election, he took a trip to Hawaii to unwind, and found he couldn't.

"The unknown was difficult for me," Porter said. That nearly four-month period in which he didn't know what he would do next was not easy.

In March, he joined Akerman Senterfitt, a national law firm with 500 attorneys and consultants. He is not an attorney, but Porter is director of public policy in the D.C. office. The firm focuses on Fortune 500 companies and governmental entities. The National Law Journal named it one of the top 100 law firms in the United States.

Porter has clients in Nevada -- Carson City, Station Casinos, Nye County -- and others outside the state, including International Hotels and the Port of Oakland. The firm also has offices in Florida, New York and Los Angeles, so Porter is often traveling.

"I don't do red-eyes any more," he said, laughing.

Henderson is home and he plans to spend more time in Southern Nevada for business and family reasons. Divorced with two grown children, Porter's first grandchild was born in March. He proudly shows pictorial proof she made a great Halloween pumpkin.

Porter plans to stay involved in the community and believes he and other former officials, such as Bruce Woodbury and Jim Gibson, can be effective outside of politics.

"I'm more at peace, from a career perspective," he said.

He still gets up at 3 a.m. but doesn't rush to read the newspapers. He follows federal, state, and local issues, but doesn't worry about how things might have been if he had stayed in Congress. However, he would have voted against the House health care bill for a raft of reasons.

This has been a transitional year for Porter. "I wake up being optimistic. I was happy as an elected official and I'm happy today."

It's obvious he is relaxed, yet busy and challenged by this new phase. But he's not too busy to pause and chat when someone stops him in a store. After all, prospective voters remember such courtesies.

Jane Ann Morrison's column appears Monday, Thursday and Saturday. E-mail her at Jane@reviewjournal.com or call 702-383-0275. She also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/morrison.