He was born in Fort Dodge, Iowa, attended Briar Cliff College, and worked in his family business before being elected to the Boulder City, Nevada, City Council in 1983, and in the same year becoming an agent for Farmer's Insurance. He was elected Mayor of Boulder City in 1987 and served in that capacity until 1991. Porter served in the Nevada State Senate from 1994 to 2002, when he was elected to the House to represent Nevada's newly created Third District, a result of rapid growth in the the southern part of the state. He is a member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the Committee on Education and the Workforce.