Dead Man’s Victory: How Dennis Hof Secured a Political Seat from Beyond the Grave
Ever heard of a brothel owner winning an election… after death? Yeah, me neither—until Dennis Hof came along and flipped the script in Nevada politics. Known more for his “world famous BunnyRanch” and reality TV stardom than for any typical political resume, Hof dubbed himself the “Trump of Pahrump,” channeling an anti-establishment vibe that somehow struck a chord with voters tired of the usual political snooze-fest. But here’s the kicker: Hof died three weeks before the 2018 Nevada State Assembly election—and still snagged the victory posthumously. How does a guy who built an empire on legalized sex work—not exactly the poster child for conservative values—manage to win an election from beyond the grave? Buckle up, because this story weaves together celebrity, scandal, and politics in a way that’s anything but ordinary. LEARN MORE
Dennis Hof had gained a reputation as a notorious brothel owner and reality TV star when he died in 2018, three weeks before an election for the Nevada State Assembly, which he won posthumously.
HBODennis Hof was inspired to get into politics by Donald Trump.
Dennis Hof viewed himself as an anti-establishment hero. He likened himself, in many ways, to Donald Trump, even going as far as to refer to himself as the “Trump of Pahrump.” Whether Trump would find the comparison favorable, though, is an entirely different matter.
Hof did certainly have some things in common with the president. He was never a part of the Washington D.C. establishment, he starred on a reality television show, he spent most of his adult life as a businessman, and somehow he managed to overtake every Republican candidate he squared up against in local elections. Unlike Trump, however, Hof didn’t dabble in real estate, online universities, vodka, or casinos — Hof was a brothel owner.
In many ways, Dennis Hof seemed antithetical to the core values espoused by conservative Republicans. The brothels he ran — including his “world famous BunnyRanch” — were legal thanks to a Nevada law that legalizes sex work in counties with a population under 700,000 people. It was a far cry from “traditional family values.” But despite that, Hof unseated a three-term Republican incumbent in a Nevada State Assembly primary race.
In an even more shocking twist, Dennis Hof died three weeks before the general election in November 2018. Then America’s most famous “pimp” won the race against his Democratic opponent posthumously.
How?
Dennis Hof’s Rise To Prominence In The Nevada Brothel Business
WENN Rights Ltd / Alamy Stock PhotoDennis Hof at a fundraising event in 2010.
Dennis Hof was never one to shy away from controversy or bite his tongue. This is how Hof introduced himself to the readers of his memoir, The Art of the Pimp (2015), which was named in an homage to Trump’s Art of the Deal:
“If you want to know about my first erection, and I’m sure you do, this is the story: I am eight years old. My grandmother takes me to the Arizona State Fair. We notice a big crowd at one end and she decides to investigate. Some people are filming a movie, but I can’t see much, so we climb into the bleachers. We reach the third row and I turn around and look down and see a gorgeous, red-lipped blonde in front of the camera, getting ready for her shot. She looks up at me and waves, and suddenly I can’t breathe.”
The aforementioned blonde was, according to Hof, none other than Marilyn Monroe. And seeing her, he wrote, made it so that he could not resist a “glammed-up blonde” for the rest of his life. Hof adds that he would sleep with a brunette as well, so long as she was “hot.”
But he hadn’t originally planned to get into sex work. In fact, Hof’s first business venture was owning a handful of gas stations. He was young then, 22, with a wife named Shirley, a young daughter, and a baby on the way. Hof, who described himself as “a good husband,” had also been cheating on his wife with their landlord each month when she collected rent.
Then, in 1972, a woman from a local massage parlor worked out a deal with him. Her girls were having trouble getting to work due to a gas shortage, so if Hof could set aside some fuel for them at his gas stations, she said that Hof could make use of their services whenever he wanted with no charge.
Hof did so frequently. Soon he realized he that he “couldn’t get enough of [sex]” and that he’d “had fallen madly in love with prostitutes.”
As his business ventures continued to grow, Hof began spending more and more time at the Moonlite Ranch brothel in Mound House, Nevada. Because the county’s population was so small — less than 700,000 — the law allowed sex work, and Hof put the service to use. When he learned in the early 1990s that the Moonlite was up for sale, he bought it for $1 million.
HBOHof became famous thanks to the HBO series Cathouse, among other appearances.
“I wanted the girls to be independent, to set their own prices and make their own deals,” he wrote. “Over the years, I had created some of the best sales teams in the country. If I could teach a high-school dropout how to sell a time-share, surely I could teach a hooker how to sell herself.”
