(Henry Brean | Las Vegas Review-Journal) – For voters in Assembly District 36, the choice comes down to a two-term incumbent or a self-described pimp.
Republican James Oscarson from Pahrump has drawn a challenge from Dennis Hof, a Libertarian who also happens to be Nevada’s best-known legal brothel owner.
Hof said he decided to run after last year’s adoption of the commerce tax, a new levy on state businesses with more than $4 million in annual revenue intended to shore up education funding.
Hof called the tax “the worst thing that’s ever happened,” adding that “the RINO (Republican in Name Only) Republicans who were responsible for it need to be fired.”
Oscarson dismissed Hof as a “pseudo-celebrity” and a serial self-promoter seeking publicity for his bordello empire. state_assembly_dist_36
The community relations director for Pahrump’s only hospital said he is seeking a third term because more needs to be done to improve the state’s education and health care systems, particularly in the area of mental heath.
“I think I’ve had some great successes representing the district,” Oscarson said. “I trust that the good people of Assembly District 36 will make the right choice.”
Hof said he wants to bring “a common-sense business approach” to Carson City. “I’ve been running businesses in Nevada for 40 years, and not just brothels,” he said. “How many of these guys in the Legislature know how to run a business?”
Hof holds seven brothel licenses, the most ever in Nevada. His Moonlite Bunny Ranch, east of Carson City, is the setting for a long-running HBO reality show.
Republicans outnumber Democrats by almost 6,200 in the rural district, which covers northwestern Clark County and most of Nye and Lincoln counties, where fewer than 350 voters identify themselves as Libertarians.
To run in the district, Hof said he took up residence in the tiny southern Nye County community of Crystal, not far from his Love Ranch brothel. That property made headlines a year ago when ex-NBA star Lamar Odom nearly died there of a suspected drug overdose.
Contact Henry Brean at [email protected] or 702-383-0350. Follow @RefriedBrean on Twitter.