Cliven Bundy's son is running for governor of Nevada — and wants to make it a 'sovereign state'

One of infamous Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy's sons is running for governor of the Southwestern state on a "states rights" platform.

The Nevada Independent reported Thursday that Ryan Bundy, who along with other members orchestrated an armed takeover and occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon in 2016, announced his candidacy for Nevada governor as an independent.

"The state of Nevada needs someone who will stand up for statehood, and recognize that Nevada is a sovereign state, not just a province of the U.S.," Bundy, who along with his brothers and father was acquitted after the months-long standoff between the family and their supporters and the government.

"Although the federal government owns roughly 85 percent of the land mass in Nevada," the Independent reported, "Bundy said his main priority as governor wouldn’t be to transfer control of the land, but to “enforce” what he called the constitutional right of the state to control land independent of the federal government."

The elder Bundy, the site continued, has been battling with the Bureau of Land Management for decades over his non-payment of grazing fees on his land. He considers himself sovereign from the rule of the federal government, and it appears at least one of his sons does too.

In another armed standoff, this time with the BLM in 2014 to stop them from seizing their vast tracts of farmland, the soon-to-be gubernatorial candidate vowed to do "whatever it takes" to stop the federal government.