Dead man wins US election

A brothel owner and reality TV star thrashed his opponent in the US midterm elections. There’s just one problem: he was dead. 

The Nevada brothel owner and reality TV star who died last month after fashioning himself as a Donald Trump-style Republican candidate has won a heavily Republican state legislative district.

Dennis Hof defeated Democratic teacher Lesia Romanov in the race for Nevada’s 36th Assembly District, which includes rural communities and large stretches of desert in the southern part of the state. County officials will appoint a Republican to take his place in the seat.

Hof was found dead on October 16 after a weekend of parties celebrating his 72nd birthday. Officials are still determining his cause of death, but they don’t suspect foul play.

Hof owned a handful of brothels in Nevada, the only state that allows them to legally operate.

He also starred in the HBO adult reality series Cathouse and wrote a book titled The Art of the Pimp, akin to Mr Trump’s book The Art of the Deal.

Hof was found dead at his Love Ranch brothel about an hour outside Las Vegas. His body was discovered by porn actor Ron Jeremy and a prostitute at the brothel.

Hof had spent the four previous days partying with notables from the sex industry and political world to celebrate his birthday.

The evening prior to his death, he celebrated with a political rally at a hotel and casino called the Pahrump Nugget, according to The New Yorker. He continued the festivities at his brothel with rap star Flavour Flav and porn-film actor Ron Jeremy.

The brothel where his body was found is where NBA player Lamar Odom was found unconscious in 2015.

Hof ran for office in 2016 as a Libertarian but lost the race.

This year, he ran as a Republican and earned backing from Trump associate Roger Stone and tax-cut activist Grover Norquist.

He up-ended Nevada politics this summer when he ousted an incumbent Republican politician in a primary, celebrating at an election night party with “Hollywood Madam” Heidi Fleiss.

He said an anti-brothel push and regulatory problems he faced this year were political retribution.

Nevada’s 36th Assembly District has long been a Republican-held seat.

The sprawling assembly district that touches both California and Utah and includes the Nevada National Security Site where nuclear weapons were once tested.