NV-Gov: Ryan Bundy — son of controversial rancher Cliven Bundy — running for governor as independent

Ryan Bundy — son of controversial rancher Cliven Bundy — is running for Nevada governor as an independent against Republican nominee Adam Laxalt and Democratic nominee Steve Sisolak.

And because Bundy ran unopposed in the primary, he's automatically on the November ballot, KNPR-FM reported.

Bundy spent two years in jail awaiting trial on charges connected with the Bundy Ranch standoff with federal agents, the station said, adding that Bundy and other co-defendants were freed after the judge declared federal prosecutors withheld evidence.

Just after his January release, Bundy announced his gubernatorial candidacy, KNPR reported.

“I’m running for governor because I can see there are many atrocities taking place by the government both on the state level and the federal level,” Bundy told the station.

What else did Bundy say?

It probably will come as no surprise that Bundy told KNPR he has a problem with how much power the federal government uses and believes states should control what happens within their borders.

“The United States – I don’t see as one country," he told the station. "I see the United States as 50 separate, sovereign, individual 'countries,' so to speak ... united for common cause and purposes."

The federal government's control of most of Nevada's land is an example of federal overreach, Bundy told KNPR.

“Nevada is only 10 percent of the state that it believes it is," he added to the station. “The rest of it is being controlled as a territory, and there is nothing constitutional about that."

Concerns about education

While KNPR said Nevada ranks at or near the bottom in just about every education survey or study, Bundy said education isn't the state's responsibility but the job of parents.

Which is why Bundy told the station he wants to see funds that are sent to schools instead following individual students so parents can decide where and how their sons and daughters are educated.

Other issues

Bundy told KNPR that health care shouldn't be a government function and is instead " a private matter that should be handled between an individual and whomever they choose to provide their health care."

He also believes strongly in the right to keep and bear arms and doesn't believe Congress has the constitutional authority to outlaw a plant like marijuana, the station reported.

The Laxalt and Sisolak campaigns on Friday didn't immediately reply to TheBlaze's request for comment on Bundy's candidacy and policy stances.