Hof, 72, was running for a state Assembly seat.
ADVERTISEMENTFamed brothel owner-turned-politician Dennis Hof died in Nevada on Tuesday, officials said.
The 72-year-old Hof was found dead "at the Love Ranch in Crystal NV" the Nye County Sheriff Department posted on Twitter.
The ranch is about 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas. No other details were immediately available.
The hard-partying, always quotable Hof was running for seat in the Nevada state Assembly, after knocking off an incumbent Republican in June.
"I'm stunned. This is not the turn I would've expected," his Democratic opponent Lesia Romanov told The Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Hof owned several legal brothels in the Silver State, including the Moonlite Bunny Ranch. That location was center stage of HBO reality show and documentary about the sex industry, "Cathouse: The Series."