Seth A. Richardson

srichardson@rgj.com

Brothel owner Dennis Hof announced Friday he would be running as a Libertarian for the Nevada Senate seat currently occupied by outgoing Sen. Greg Brower, R-Reno.

Hof was originally considering running for U.S. Senate, but said he did not want to kowtow to special interests for money.

“You just can’t get the $5 million to 10 million without whoring yourself out and I’m not going to do that,” he said. “There’s a lot of people willing to give me money, but there’s a payback. I’m not going to compromise my principles.”

Hof said he chose the Libertarian Party after being introduced to it by John Stossel.

“It’s kind of neat,” he said. “I call myself a conservatarian. I feel like I’m a conservative guy even though I’m in a crazy business, but I like the libertarian values and what they stand for.”

Brower announced in September he would not seek reelection. Former Assemblywoman Heidi Gansert entered the race a short time later. A Democrat has not announced his or her candidacy.

Gansert and Brower did not respond to phone calls for comment.