After law school, Porter returned to his hometown and formed the law firm of Nelson & Porter. In 1982 he decided to run for the
Georgia House of Representatives. Elected in 2003, he represented the district until 2011. In 1987, Porter and Griffin Lovett purchased
The Courier Herald, the daily newspaper in Dublin. Porter is chairman of the board of the publishing company and runs the business side of the company daily. In 1998, Porter and Lovett purchased
The Soperton News,
The Montgomery Monitor, and
The Wheeler County Eagle. In 2002, they purchased
The Johnson Journal,
The Twiggs Times New Era, and
The Cochran Journal. In 2004, they purchased
The Wilkinson County Post and in 2006 they purchased
The Baldwin Bulletin. Porter is the business manager of these nine publications. Since 1987, Porter also has been a stockholder and member of the Board of Directors of the Bank of Dudley. In 1991 and 1992, he served as Administration Floor Leader in the House of Representatives to Governor Zell Miller. In January 2003, Porter was elected Speaker Pro Tempore of the House of Representatives. Porter is currently in his fourteenth term and serves on the Agriculture & Consumer Affairs, Appropriations, Ethics, and Rules Committees. In January 2005, he was elected Leader of the Democratic Caucus of the House of Representatives. Porter is a former trustee for the
Nature Conservancy of Georgia, former member of board of trustees and board of advisors of the
Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation. He is the former president of the Georgia Press Association and of the Georgia Library Trustees Association and served as a member of Governor
Zell Miller's Preservation 2000 Committee. He was a member of the 1985 class of Leadership Georgia. He is a member of the Dublin Rotary Club. He is also a member of the
Gridiron Secret Society. On April 6, 2009, Porter announced his candidacy for
governor of Georgia in
2010. He lost the Democratic primary on July 20, 2010, to former Gov.
Roy Barnes. On August 31, 2013, Porter was elected chairman of the Democratic Party of Georgia in a special election to fill the vacancy created when former DPG Chairman
Mike Berlon resigned. Porter won 62% in the second round of voting. On January 31, 2015, Porter was re-elected to serve his first full four-year term as chairman of the Democratic Party of Georgia. == Personal life ==