HENDERSON, Nev. — Ex-stripper Diana Hampton will soon have something new to wear – judicial robes.

Hampton was elected to the Municipal Court in Henderson on Tuesday, defeating Michael Miller in a run-off by 176 votes.

Hampton, 39, had acknowledged during the campaign that she worked at a Las Vegas striptease club to help pay her way through college 14 years ago.

She called it “a fact of life” and said she hoped the interest it drew to her candidacy would eventually die down. She was elected to a six-year term.

Back Story: With the start of early voting two days away, a candidate for Henderson municipal judge found herself answering questions Thursday about a job she held 14 years ago to pay her way through college.

Diana Hampton, 39, confirmed that she worked as a topless dancer at Cheetah’s in 1991. She said she held the job for about a year, then spent the next six years as a bartender at the strip club as she earned a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

“It’s nothing I’ve ever denied,” said Hampton, now a lawyer. “I knew it would come out eventually. It has nothing to do with my ability to be a Municipal Court judge, but it makes for a good (newspaper) story.”

Hampton, who has lived in the Las Vegas Valley most of her life, earned her law degree from California Western School of Law and entered private practice 5 1/2 years ago. She spent almost three years as a deputy city attorney in Henderson before resigning early this year to run for office.

Hampton said city officials knew about her employment history.

Henderson City Attorney Shauna Hughes could not be reached for comment. In a previous interview about Hampton’s candidacy, Hughes said she was sorry to see Hampton resign and would rehire her if she could.

City Human Resources Director Daryl Moore said privacy rules prohibit her from disclosing what Hampton wrote on her employment application when she was hired, but applicants for deputy city attorney are required to list every job they have held for the past 15 years. Failure to do so is grounds for dismissal, Moore said.

Hampton, who earned $78,548 per year from the city’s attorney office, said she wrote on her application that she worked as bartender at Cheetah’s.

Moore said the individual supervisor who is doing the hiring must decide whether someone’s work history disqualifies them for a certain job. “We don’t have a hard and fast rule that says we won’t hire someone who worked at Cheetah’s,” she said.

Moore added that Hampton left the city of her own accord, not because of any disciplinary action. “She chose to resign to run for public office, which I think is admirable,” Moore said.

Hampton received 34 percent of the vote to finish first among four candidates in the April 5 primary.

Her opponent in the general election is Michael Miller, 54, a former Clark County public defender who fills in part time as a judge for municipal and justice courts in Henderson.

Miller doesn’t know what to make of the sudden attention their race is getting. “This whole thing puts me in an uncomfortable position,” he said.

Miller said he has held a number of different jobs before his 25-year career as a public defender, including time at an accounting firm and as a law clerk. As a college student, he earned tuition money by driving a school bus, pumping gas and busing tables.

“I have nothing to say about her work history. I just don’t know what to say about it,” Miller said. “Does it have anything to do with the qualifications (for judge)? That’s not my decision to make.

“I’m certainly not going to make her past employment part of my campaign,” he said.

Hampton won’t either. “I don’t want to sensationalize it,” she said. “It’s out in the open. Let’s move on to the issues.”