Dennis Hof, Nevada brothel owner and candidate, dies
Dennis Hof, the limelightloving Bunny Ranch owner who parlayed his legal pimp fame into a GOP nomination for the Nevada Assembly, has died.
The brothel boss who billed himself as the “Trump from Pahrump” turned 72 on Sunday.
“I just confirmed with Nye County sheriff’s deputy that Dennis Hof passed away this morning,” Hof’s campaign manager Chuck Muth said in a Twitter post. In addition to appearing on the HBO reality show “Cathouse,” Hoff gained fame after NBA star Lamar Odom collapsed from a nearly fatal drug overdose at the Love Ranch in 2015.
Nye County Commissioner John Koenig reportedly confirmed Hof’s death Tuesday at a commission meeting.
Koenig said Hof “went to sleep last night and didn’t wake up,” Nye County spokesman Arnold Knightly told the Reno Gazette Journal.
Earlier this yeart Hof defeated incumbent Assemblyman James Oscarson for the Republican nomination for Nevada’s Assembly District 36 in Pahrump.
A photo from his election victory party showed him celebrating alongside former Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss.
The owner of a half-dozen legal brothels in Nevada, Hof was battling accusations he sexually assaulted different women between 2005 and 2011.
Wayne Thorley, Nevada’s deputy secretary of state for elections, told The Associated Press that Hof’s name would remain on the ballot.
Ballots with Hof’s name have already been printed and mailed to voters, but signs will be posted at polling places notifying voters that Hof is dead, Thorley said.
If Hof wins the election as expected in the heavily Republican district, officials in the affected counties will nominate another Republican to fill the vacancy, Thorley said.