Gregory T. Hafen II is an American politician and utility executive who was appointed to the
Nevada Assembly
The Nevada Assembly is the lower house of the Nevada Legislature, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Nevada, the upper house being the Nevada Senate. The body consists of 42 members, elected to two-year ...
in December 2018, replacing
Dennis Hof
Dennis Leroy Hof (October 14, 1946 – October 16, 2018) was an American brothel owner. He owned seven legal brothels in Nevada, most notably the Moonlite BunnyRanch. Hof was also a Republican candidate in 2018 for the Nevada Assembly, whic ...
, who had been elected to the Assembly posthumously.
Early life and education
Hafen was born and raised in Nevada and is a fifth-generation Nevadan and small business owner. Hafen earned a Bachelor of Science degree in business management from the
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. It includes the S ...
.
Career
In 2006, he became a full-time member of the management of Pahrump Utility Company, which was founded in 1995 by Tim Hafen, father of Greg Hafen and grandfather of Gregory Hafen II. He was chairman of the Pahrump Regional Planning Commission and Pahrump Capital Improvement Advisory Committee, until he resigned to serve in the Nevada Assembly.
Gregory is the Chairman of the Desert View Hospital Board and a member of the Nevada Taxpayer Association. He previously chaired the Pahrump Regional Planning Commission, Pahrump Capital Improvement Advisory Committee, chaired the Pahrump Ground Water Management Plan Advisory Committee and has participated in developing numerous Nye County Ordinances and Nye County comprehensive plans.
In 2018,
brothel
A brothel, bordello, ranch, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. However, for legal or cultural reasons, establishments often describe themselves as massage parlors, bars, strip clubs, body rub par ...
owner and former
Libertarian
Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...
Dennis Hof
Dennis Leroy Hof (October 14, 1946 – October 16, 2018) was an American brothel owner. He owned seven legal brothels in Nevada, most notably the Moonlite BunnyRanch. Hof was also a Republican candidate in 2018 for the Nevada Assembly, whic ...
had unseated
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
incumbent
James Oscarson
James Oscarson (born in 1957 in Ogden, Utah) is an American politician, and member of the Republican Party. He was a member of the Nevada Assembly from February 4, 2013 to November 7, 2018 representing District 36.
Education
Oscarson attended ...
in the Republican
primary election
Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...
for the 36th Assembly district. Hof, running as the
Libertarian
Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...
nominee, had previously lost the 2016
general election
A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
to Oscarson. When Hof died on October 16, his name remained on the ballot, and he was elected posthumously. Nevada law stipulates that the
county commission
A county commission (or a board of county commissioners) is a group of elected officials (county commissioners) collectively charged with administering the county government in some states of the United States; such commissions usually comprise ...
s of the counties which the district encompasses are to choose a successor from applicants of the previous incumbent's political party. 19 people applied for Hof's seat, and the commissions of all three counties selected Hafen.
Lincoln County had three votes,
Clark County had 30 votes, and
Nye had 67 votes, reflecting the composition of the 36th district. Allegations were made by one commissioner that supporters of a rival candidate had threatened him, and there was some opposition to his election, citing his lack of political experience and youth (he was 35 as of December 5, 2018.)
Hafen serves on the Assembly Committees on Government Affairs, Health and Human Services, and Taxation.
Hafen's first bill introduced was Assembly Bill (AB) 167 which would authorize a person who holds a permit to carry a concealed firearm to possess a handgun in a motor vehicle that is on the property of the Nevada System of Higher Education or a private or public school. AB 167 died in committee without a vote.
2020 election
He defeated
chiropractor
Chiropractic is a form of alternative medicine concerned with the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of mechanical disorders of the musculoskeletal system, especially of the spine. It has esoteric origins and is based on several pseudoscie ...
Joseph Bradley in the June 2020 Republican primary, with 4,851 votes (54.9%) to Bradley's 3,990 (45.1%), and was unopposed in the November 2020 general election.
"Gregory Hafen"
'' Ballotpedia.org'' accessed October 1, 2021
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hafen, Gregory II
Businesspeople from Nevada
University of Nevada, Las Vegas alumni
Date of birth missing (living people)
1980s births
Republican Party members of the Nevada Assembly
American chief executives of energy companies
Living people
21st-century American politicians