Brothel baron Dennis Hof has a way with the ladies, but Nevada’s pimp-politician may have a hard time charming the conservative women in the Republican Assembly caucus.

Republicans are in the minority and figure to stay there after the November general election, but that doesn’t mean its members are incapable of articulating a conservative agenda and making valid arguments on a variety of issues both on the floor of the Assembly and in the court of public opinion.

Unless, of course, they’re sidetracked by Hof’s one-ring political circus. He’s the flamboyant skin merchant made famous by the HBO show “Cathouse,” an autobiography titled “The Art of the Pimp: One Man’s Search for Love, Sex, and Money,” and his ownership of seven legal brothels.

Parlaying his own bankroll and the warm embrace of unofficial President Donald Trump adviser Roger Stone, earlier this month Hof easily defeated incumbent James Oscarson in the District 36 primary. He’ll face Democrat Lesia Romanov in the general in the heavily Republican district drawn mostly in Nye County.

These days, Hof’s friends like to call him “Trump from Pahrump.” Hof lauds the president’s style and parrots Trumpian bromides with ease. That puts him, at least rhetorically, in the company of congressional candidate Danny Tarkanian, gubernatorial frontrunner Adam Laxalt and even U.S. Sen. Dean Heller.

Hof’s profession, however, won’t get him anywhere with Republican Assemblywoman Jill Tolles of Washoe County.

“I will not caucus with Dennis Hof under any circumstances,” Tolles said in a statement in response to my query, “but I do plan to work with all the other Republican Assembly members to focus on the policy work before us in the next session and to serve our constituents for the good of Nevada.”

Messages left for other Republican assemblywomen received no response. But it’s hard to imagine a conservative legislator such as Dr. Robin Titus of Wellington being comfortable with the prospect of Hof joining their ranks. She’s climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and run 10 marathons, so there’s no question she’ll be capable of sprinting away from Assemblyman Hof.

I may be kidding myself, but I believe other members of the GOP Assembly, male and female, will follow Tolles’ lead.

Not long ago, Tolles appeared to represent the future of the Republican Party. Married with two children, she’s a fiscal conservative who has taught as an adjunct professor at UNR. She was also one of two Republican assemblywomen to vote in 2017 in favor of the largely ceremonial ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment.

Oddly enough, now it’s the cocky Hof who appears a better reflection of the GOP’s current style. After watching Heller and other top Nevada Republicans ratchet their politics to the right in supplication to Trump, Hof is in lockstep with his party.

Although a Hof victory might technically be a first for Nevada -- insert your favorite round-heeled legislator joke here -- the brothel industry has long held influence in Carson City. Aside from whorehouse industry lobbyist George Flint, a fixture in the lawmaking halls for decades, the notorious Storey County brothel king Joe Conforte had no shortage of elected allies. Chief among them was Republican legislator James Slattery, who served as a delegate to the Republican National Convention and is perhaps best remembered these days for his outspoken opposition to civil rights legislation. Slattery also lobbied on Conforte’s behalf after returning to the private sector.

Hof’s candidacy has splashed far and wide in the media. You don’t have to click often to find photos of the proprietor of the Moonlite Bunny Ranch depicted with his trademark cigar flanked by his scantily-clad sex workers. No matter their politics, news consumers gobble up this kind of political fast food. It doesn’t exactly sully Nevada’s reputation, but it’s no stretch to wonder whether a Hof victory will add a ring to the legislative circus that further marginalizes Assembly Republicans as they struggle for relevancy in the minority in Carson City.

Then again, if Dennis Hof is elected and blends in, it may say more about Nevada and its Legislature than many people would want to admit.

Contact John L. Smith at [email protected]. On Twitter: @jlnevadasmith.