Brothel-owning Republican candidate dies in his sleep after birthday celebration

Nevada brothel owner and Republican candidate for state legislature Dennis Hof has died. The 72-year-old passed away in his sleep after celebrating his birthday during a campaign rally on Monday night.

What are the details?

Hof — who owned five legal brothels — was found dead Tuesday morning by porn star Ron Jeremy, after partying with a mix of big-name conservatives and supporters the night before.

Campaign manager Chuck Muth confirmed Hof's death on Tuesday.

"He was discovered by longtime friend Ron Jeremy — who went to his room to wake him for a scheduled lunch at the Pahrump Senior Center — around 11:00 a.m. No cause of death has been determined. The Clark County coroner will conduct an autopsy," Muth said in a statement.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio, former madam Heidi Fleiss, Trump ally Roger Stone and Americans for Tax Reform founder Grover Norquist were also in attendance at the rally on Monday. Norquist told the Reno County Gazette in an email the next day that he left the event shortly after speaking to the crowd.

"[Hof] was a friend and political ally. His commitment to stopping more tax hikes and to rolling back some of the tax hikes of the past few years was an important voice in Nevada politics," Norquist wrote. "I think he could have made a big difference in the direction of Nevada towards limited government and lower taxes. He was so full of energy and life yesterday."

Hof was the Republican nominee running for Nevada Assembly District 36.

His opponent, Democrat Lesia Romanov reacted to his death in an interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal, saying, "This is not anything that I would have ever guessed would happen. My heart goes out to those who care about him."

"Obviously, he was my opponent," Romanov added, "but I would never wish anything like this on a person."

Anything else?

Hof rose to national fame when HBO featured a show called "Cathouse" about his Moonlite Bunny Ranch brothel in 2005. The series continued to air until last year, when the network scrapped it.

The brothel owner beat the incumbent Republican in this year's primary race, and his name will remain on the ballot for the Nov. 6 general elections.