Dennis Hof: Nevada brothel owner expected to win state election despite having died

Dennis Hof is expected to win an election for the Republicans next month, despite being found dead earlier this week during his 72nd birthday celebrations.

The former brothel owner and reality TV star is poised to take a seat in the Nevada legislature in three weeks’ time because it’s now too late to change the ballots.

And party activists are confident voters will opt for the dead Republican over the Democrat candidate Lesia Romanov.

“I feel very comfortable predicting that he is still going to win the election on 6 November,” Mr Hof’s campaign manager Chuck Muth told Reuters.

If the dead candidate does emerge victorious, county commissioners would meet to approve another local Republican put forward by the party, according to the Reno Gazette Journal.

“They will feel much more comfortable casting the ballot for him knowing there will be another Republican to replace him,” said Mr Muth of Nevada voters.

The campaign manager said the Republicans still held a two-to-one advantage over Democrats in the district in terms of voter registration.

Mr Hof styled himself as “Trump from Pahrump” after his home town in Nevada.

He won a primary for a seat on the state legislature earlier this year, somehow managing to meld the world of politics and the sex industry.

At his final birthday party at the Pahrump Nugget hotel casino on Monday night, he celebrated alongside porn veteran Ron Jeremy, tax-cut activist Grover Norquist, former “Hollywood Madam” Heidi Fleiss and ex-Arizona sheriff and politician Joe Arpaio.

Mr Jeremy said he and Dasha Dare, a prostitute from the Love Ranch brothel, found the body on Tuesday morning at Mr Hof’s residence.

No foul play is suspected in the death, but authorities said it could be six weeks before a cause of death is confirmed.

Mr Hof did not drink, smoke or use drugs, according to his campaign manager.

“Boy, that’s shocking,” Mr Arpaio, the former sheriff of Phoenix, said of the candidate’s death.

He said Mr Hof had been in good spirits when he saw him last.

“He was sitting on a stool talking with people when I left about 10,” said Nye County Sheriff Sharon Wehrly. “I guess that’s partying at 72.”

Nevada is the only US state that allows brothel’s to operate legally. But Mr Hof’s business was temporarily closed twice this year by regulators who said he had failed to renew licences and get proper renovation permits.

He had also been accused of sexual assault at least four times. The Nevada Department of Public Safety has said it was investigating an allegation made in September but released few details.