Dead pimp cruises to win in Nevada

In life, Dennis Hof claimed many titles: “America’s pimp” and “the P.T. Barnum of Booty,” based on his notoriety as an outspoken brothel owner in Nevada. He called himself the “Trump of Pahrump,” nodding to his political style and the town he called home.

In death, Hof earned a new title: Nevada state assemblyman.

On Tuesday, in the midterm elections, Nevada voters resoundingly elected Hof, a Republican, to represent the state’s 36th Assembly District just weeks after he was found dead in a brothel he owned in Crystal, Nevada, at the age of 72.

His election means that county commissioners from his district will pick a replacement, who must be a Republican. That will play out after the election results are confirmed Friday, said Arnold Knightly, a spokesman for Nye County.

Hof’s victory seemed inevitable in the heavily conservative region. President Donald Trump carried Nye County in 2016 with nearly 68 percent of the vote.

Hof’s candidacy was not derailed by accusations of sexual assault and rape and a state investigation into allegations against him.

Certainly, death was no obstacle, as thousands of people marched past polling-site signs that read “NOTICE OF DEATH OF CANDIDATE” on their way to vote for Hof.

“He was clearly an outsider,” said Chuck Muth, Hof’s campaign manager, who had urged voters to vote for Hof despite his death Oct. 16. “He was a disrupter.”

Hof had run an anti-tax increase, pro-gun-rights campaign that also focused on the region’s water scarcity. As of Wednesday afternoon, he had received more than 63 percent of the vote.

Hof was the star of the HBO television series “Cathouse,” which focused on the Moonlite BunnyRanch, his brothel east of Carson City.

Hof’s Democratic opponent, Lesia Romanov, could not be reached for comment.