Famed brothel owner Dennis Hof filed to run for the Nevada State Assembly District 36 last week as a Libertarian, after originally planning to run for an office up north.
Hof, whose brothel was featured on the HBO series “Cathouse”, filed the paperwork to run for the district Friday in Carson City, after originally wanting to run for the State Senate seat in Reno.
The author of the book, “How to Be a Pimp,” said the familiarity of Nye County and the more close-knit vibe of the community initiated his change of heart for deciding to run down south as opposed to up north.
“Well, I spend a lot of time down there and I have businesses in three different places in Nevada and I felt like that’s where I wanted to run,” Hof said. “People know me. It’s a smaller area, as far as voters, and they know me better.”
District 36, which includes Pahrump and other portions of Nye County, is held by two-term incumbent Republican James Oscarson, and Hof said his betrayal of trust is grounds for him to be ousted.
“Well, I didn’t go back on my word,” he said. “He (Oscarson) went back on his word and voted for the commerce tax, he helped raise taxes in Nevada $1.4 billion. Anybody who voted for the commerce tax needs to be fired.”
The commerce tax Hof is speaking of is Gov. Brian Sandoval’s $1.1 billion package of new and extended taxes, including a business gross receipts “commerce tax” imposed on revenue of $4 million or more. Oscarson was one of 13 Republican members to vote for the bill, much to the chagrin of the Nye County Republican Party.
With that tax, Hof explained that there aren’t enough members of the government in Nevada that have business experience and that is hurting local business owners where it hurts most, their pockets.
Hof owns several brothels throughout the state, including the Love Ranch South in Crystal, where the infamous Lamar Odom drug overdose situation took place in October, and the Alien Cathouse in Amargosa Valley.
Being a successful businessman is what Hof thinks will set him apart from the other candidates.
“They know me as a businessman, which expanded during the depression and I put lots of money down into Southern Nevada,” he said. “I’m an employer and I think that is going to resonate.
“They need businessmen running this. On that commerce tax, besides Michele Fiori, there were only two other people that ever had to write a paycheck. They don’t know what it’s like to run a business in Nevada. I’m a businessman, I understand it.”
Hof plans to tackle several problems plaguing the state if he is elected, ranging from education to sex trafficking issues.
“Here’s the problem, we have the 45th worst business environment in the United States according to CNBC, we have the 49th worst schools in the United States, we have the highest sex trafficking in the United States and for those reasons alone it’s time to get new people in office.”
Being a self-proclaimed outsider in the political world, as opposed to some of the more familiar candidates, Hof said that overall he just wants to see the state thrive.
“The ultimate goal is to make this state an amazing place to be and help fix it,” he said. “It’s about time that we have a businessman straighten out the state. We have a lot of problems and I think I can be part of the solution as opposed to part of the problem.”
Hof will face in November the winner of the Republican primary. Challenging Oscarson in the June 14 voting is Tina Trenner of Pahrump and Rusty Stanberry of Las Vegas. No Democrat filed to run in the race.
Contact reporter Mick Akers at makers@pvtimes.com. Follow @mickakers on Twitter.