LOS ANGELES (AFP) - A colorful Nevada brothel owner who was running for the state legislature as a Republican has died unexpectedly but his name will remain on the ballot for the November election, officials said.

Dennis Hof, 72, was found dead on Tuesday at Love Ranch, one of his legal brothels in Crystal, Nevada, the Nye County Sheriff's Office said.

According to the Reno Gazette Journal, Hof had celebrated his birthday Monday evening with a party attended by porn star Ron Jeremy and other guests.

Chuck Muth, Hof's campaign manager, said on Twitter that Jeremy found Hof's body when he went to wake him up on Tuesday morning.

Muth said Hof had apparently "died quietly in his sleep."

Hof, who starred in the HBO reality television show Cathouse about the prostitutes working at one of his establishments, was running for a seat in the Nevada state assembly as a pro-Trump Republican.

Under Nevada law, Hof's name will remain on the ballot for the November 6 election in the conservative district where he was favored against his Democratic opponent.

The author of The Art of the Pimp, his autobiography, Hof called himself the "Trump of Pahrump" after the Nevada city where he owned another two brothels.

Former NBA star Lamar Odom was once famously found unconscious at Love Ranch after a four-day stay.