Dead Brothel Owner Wins Election To Nevada State Assembly

About two weeks ago, Dennis Hof, the owner of a legal brothel in Nevada, died at the age of 72. Several months prior to that, though, Hof had won the Republican primary for a seat in the Nevada State Assembly and, under Nevada law, there was no time to replace him on the ballot. Yesterday, Hof managed to pull off a victory despite the somewhat significant handicap of being dead:

Dennis Hof, a brothel owner who died last month, overwhelmingly won an election to Nevada’s State Assembly on Tuesday.

Hof, a reality-television star touted as the state’s most well-known pimp, ran as an outspoke Republican for Nevada’s Assembly District 36 before he died in October at the age of 72. Due to state law, however, he remained on the ballot and the state’s leading GOP officials had urged voters to still cast their ballots for him in order to deprive Democrats of the chance to flip the seat.

The Nevada Independent noted that signs had been posted at polling places throughout Hof’s district informing voters that he had died, but some estimates say he still won about 63 percent of the vote regardless.

The Nevada Republican Party will now be responsible for filling the dead man’s office.

Hof ran on a platform based on deeply conservative ideals, including expansion of gun rights and a hard-line policy on immigration. But he also stumped for non-traditional issues, including an effort to make the brothel industry more mainstream.

His campaign manager had predicted weeks ago that Hof would overcome his own death to clinch the vote because the district leans heavily Republican and even alluded that Hof would perform better due to the situation.

Apparently, the process now is that the local parties will choose new candidates and there will be a special election to fill the seat Hof would have held.

And in case you’re wondering if this sounds familiar, that’s because it should if you were a fan of The West Wing.

So congratulations Assemblyman-Elect Hof. I guess.

FILED UNDER: 2018 Election, US Politics, , , ,
Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. CSK says:

    His coitus was definitely interrupted.

    5
  2. Guarneri says:

    And they have now is their friendship.

  3. Kit says:

    I guess there is such a thing as a good Republican.

    5
  4. Electroman says:

    Rather than the West Wing, this reminds me of the Missouri US Senate race in 2000 between John Ashcroft and the dead Mel Carnahan. Carnahan won.

    2
  5. Franklin says:

    So congratulations Assemblyman-Elect Hof. I guess.

    More like Assemblyman-Erect Hof.

    /Take that either way, doesn’t matter to me.

    1
  6. wr says:

    The only good Republican…

    1
  7. Hal_10000 says:

    Good. And Nevada’s anti-brothel proposal went down in flames as well.

    1
  8. gVOR08 says: