Businessman and former Nevada State Assembly candidate Dennis Hof switched his party affiliation from Libertarian to Republican on Wednesday.
Hof signed a document formalizing his new membership and addressed a crowd of supporters at Nye County Republican Central Committe headquarters.
“I learned a lot of lessons during my first run for office this year,” Hof said. “And one of the biggest lessons is that politics is somewhat like professional baseball – you have the American League, the National League and the minor leagues. The Libertarians just aren’t yet in the political major leagues,” Hof said in a press release.
Hof said he had been an Independent because he is a businessman. Hof registered as a Libertarian before his run for the Nevada Assembly District 36 earlier this year.
“My mother and dad would be proud of me, I finally became a Republican that they wanted me to and I did it on Pearl Harbor Day,” he said.
Hof, who owns a number of businesses across Nevada including brothels, lost to incumbent Assemblyman James Oscarson in the Nov. 8 election. He received almost 40 percent of support against Oscarson’s 60 percent.
“For us to get almost 44 percent in Nye County and 40 percent overall, for Libertarians, (that’s) unheard of,” Hof said.
Hof said he has seen “some terrible” things during the 40 years of doing business in Nevada, but “nothing is as bad as politics.”
“Which has now given me the incentive to want to get involved even more, because of that. It’s just such a dirty pay-for-play business,” he said.
“I’m hoping that James goes to Carson City and does the right thing, and I think we all need to keep the flashlight on him and make sure that he does the right thing and the decisions are not made because he is getting paid,” he said.
Nye County Republican Central Committee Chairman Joe Burdzinski thanked Hof for joining the party.
“One of the things that we are trying to do here in Nye County in the Republican Party is grow the party and have more people join, so we are glad to have Dennis stand up here and join us today,” he said.
Nevada Republican Party Chairman Michael McDonald also joined Hof at the event. He said it’s “great” to have Hof come on board.
Hof also said that he formed a Political Action Committee to benefit the Republican Party in different races. He said he will write his first three checks to the Nye County Republican Central Committee, Clark County Republican Party and Nevada Republican Party.
“I just want to be a value added. Am I going to run again for an office? I might. I think wherever the party needs me, then that’s where I would want to go, and support them at whatever function and whatever level that would be,” he said.
“Who knows, a year from now, maybe when the Legislature is out and the party is deciding who they are going to run against James in the primary, maybe I’m that guy. I’m definitely up for the fight,” he said.
Hof is considering making another run for the Assembly District 36 seat in 2018, according to a press release.
Contact reporter Daria Sokolova at dsokolva@pvtimes.com