Porter crosses party lines to vote for Democratic energy plan

By Lisa Mascaro

Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2008 | 12:07 p.m.

WASHINGTON - U.S. Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., was one of just 15 House Republicans to cross party lines to help pass a Democratic energy plan late Tuesday night.

Porter is in perhaps his toughest re-election campaign this fall, and has repeatedly broken from his peers after being criticized in the past as being in lock-step with his party.

House Republican leaders had sought to limit dissent within their ranks as they pressed unsuccessfully for a vote on the Republican bill, which called for more off-shore oil drilling in protected waters than the Democratic version. Republicans complained that the bill that passed did not go far enough to open protected waters to drilling.

High gas prices have been a top campaign issue among voters, especially in Nevada where voters drive long distances and the tourism industry is suffering from the economic downturn.

Porter and fellow Republican Rep. Dean Heller opposed their party's bill because it contained provisions to help develop Yucca Mountain, the proposed nuclear waste dump north of Las Vegas.

But Heller voted against the Democratic bill because he opposed the provisions lifting tax breaks for oil companies, which many see as a tax increase.