WASHINGTON -- The Jon Porter-Tessa Hafen race for Congress turned up another notch on the intensity dial when Sen. Harry Reid stepped in to counterpunch against what he called a "sleaze" attack on Hafen's Nevada roots.

Reid said in an interview Thursday that it is fair for Porter's marital status to be brought up in a campaign pitting the Republican incumbent against a Democratic challenger who used to work as Reid's press secretary.

The remarks by Nevada's most powerful political figure added a new and personal dimension to a race that has been turning increasingly nasty. In recent days, Hafen has been accused of being a Washington carpetbagger while Porter has been tagged as a yes-man to House Republican leaders.

The seed that grew this week was planted at a Democratic rally in Las Vegas on Aug. 26. Introducing Hafen to the crowd, Reid declared that "her personal life is impeccable, her opponent's is not."

Asked about the comment in the interview, Reid said he was comparing Hafen, a newlywed "whose personal life is above reproach," with Porter, who confirmed on Friday that he and his wife, Laurie, were divorced this summer. The divorce was Porter's second.

On another point that he mentioned at the Las Vegas rally, Reid said voters in the 3rd Congressional District could compare Hafen, who has a college degree, to Porter, who does not. Porter studied theology at Briar Cliff College in Sioux City, Iowa, in 1973-77.

"If he wants to pick on Tessa, he has to answer for those two things," Reid said.

The Porter-Hafen race has been drifting into darker waters. In August, Porter campaign Chairman Mike Slanker called Hafen "a joke." A few weeks later, Porter acknowledged that Slanker made untrue statements claiming Hafen "never made a mortgage payment" in Nevada nor ever held a job in the state.

Meanwhile, Hafen's campaign aggressively has questioned the strength of Porter's spine when it comes to standing up to House leaders and routinely calls him a "failed congressman."

Reid's comments this week came in the wake of a Porter television commercial that aired this month challenging Hafen's Nevada roots and residency. It called Hafen "a political opportunist" who moved from Washington to Las Vegas "just to run for Congress."

Democrats cried foul, and commentators said the charge was thin and misleading. Hafen was born and raised in Henderson in a longtime family of Southern Nevadans. She attended school in Cedar City, Utah, then worked for Reid in Washington for eight years as a press secretary.

"That's their game, sleaze," Reid said. Porter "is part of the (Tom) DeLay, Bob Ney crowd. Why can't Jon Porter go after somebody on the issues?"

Ney, an Ohio Republican, resigned from Congress upon pleading guilty this month to bribery charges tied to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff. DeLay, a Texas Republican, was pressured to step aside as House majority leader and later resigned from the House after being indicted on campaign finance charges in Texas and seeing two of his former aides indicted in the Abramoff matter.

Porter responded Friday that he was the one being aggrieved. He said he was "disgusted and appalled" by what he considered a personal attack on his family and his educational background.

"For them to be so elitist that one can't get a job or serve the public without a college degree is appalling," Porter said. "I left college to support my family."

Regarding the TV ad, he said, "I think it is fair game to talk about where someone has lived for 12 years of their life, but when they attack me, they attack my family." Porter said the 12 years includes Hafen's four years of college and eight years in Washington.

An aide later said Porter's use of the pronoun "they" referred to "Tessa Hafen and Democrats."

Hafen said in a prepared statement: "I am focused on the issues important to Nevadans and exposing Jon Porter's real record. It is time for a change in this country."

Eric Herzik, a political science professor at the University of Nevada, Reno, said it appears that simmering animosity between Reid and Porter finally has surfaced.

At the least, Herzik said, hard feelings date to January when Porter attacked Reid at the height of the Abramoff scandal. Porter tried to tie the Senate Democratic leader to the disgraced lobbyist in demanding that Reid return campaign contributions from Abramoff clients.

"None of this is good as far as public discourse in politics," Herzik said. "There are no particular policy implications to any of this, whether Porter is divorced or Tessa is a newlywed. Sorry for Jon and congrats to Tessa, but politically, who cares?"