A deceased brothel owner and reality television star has won a state assembly seat in Nevada in the midterm elections.

Dennis Hof, who owned seven legal brothels in the state, died last month during his 72nd birthday celebrations.

His body was found on 16 October at his Love Ranch, in Crystal, Nevada.

The aspiring politician called himself "the Trump of Pahrump”, after the town he hoped to represent.

He also wrote a book called The Art Of The Pimp, playing on the title of Donald Trump's own book The Art Of The Deal.

Hof posthumously defeated Democratic school administrator Lesia Romanov on Tuesday, according to The Nevada Independent.

"My man Dennis Hof crushed his opponent from the great beyond," Chuck Muth, his campaign manager, wrote on Twitter.

Hof's name was kept on the midterm election ballots as it was too late to alter them by the time of his death.

Mr Muth previously predicted that the 72-year-old's death would help him to victory,

"There are a lot of Republicans who were uncomfortable voting for Dennis because of the nature of his business and they now know that he is not the one who will be serving," the campaign manager said to Reuters.

“They will feel much more comfortable casting the ballot for him knowing there will be another Republican to replace him."

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Nevada is the only state in the US where prostitution remains legal in some areas.