Rep. Jon Porter and his Democratic challenger Tessa Hafen met Wednesday for the final televised debate of a campaign marked by strong differences over the Bush administration's handling of the war in Iraq.

Hafen, a former aide to Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, has been a sharp critic of the president and Porter's support of Bush's management of the war. She repeated those attacks Wednesday during the one-hour debate aired live on cable.

"If we're not in a civil war right now, we are very close to it," Hafen said, referring to the situation in Iraq. "Instead, all we hear is 'stay the course' ... and meanwhile our troops are more and more in harm's way."

Hafen has called for the dismissal of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and said Wednesday she would support a removal troops from the "center of battle to the outskirts of the country."

Porter, who is seeking a third term representing Nevada's 3rd Congressional District, defended the administration's policies, although when asked, he stopped short of expressly supporting Rumsfeld.

"I believe that we're winning the war on terrorism, and we're winning because our homeland has not been attacked," Porter said. "Changing one individual is not going to change the course."

The Porter-Hafen race increasingly has attracted national attention and spending from independent groups. Polls have shown Hafen closing the gap on Porter.

The congressman sought to refute Hafen's attack ads describing him as a rubber stamp for the president's agenda. Porter said he supported the president on 36 of the administration's 47 top-priority bills, adding that Hafen probably would have voted with Bush on some of the bills.

The debate was aired on cable channel 19, Las Vegas One.