Call him a gadfly. Call him a nuisance. William Kelly wants you to call him a Republican candidate for governor.

His platform includes reinstating the death penalty, particularly for cop killers, and he mentions last week’s incident in Chicago in which two officers escaped serious injury despite their van being shot full of holes. The suspect, Kelly says, is “another individual that we don’t know if he was supposed to be in the country or not. Nobody knows. Nobody knows. Nobody knows. Nobody knows. An 18 year old shot two police officers with a high powered rifle, an AR 15. They are calling them the miracle cops. The miracle cops. Well, in honor of the miracle cops, I am going to pass the miracle death penalty.”

Kelly, who was on the ballot in the 2010 Republican primary for comptroller, has since then only threatened to run for office but not followed through. He has been a provocateur who has disrupted news conferences, confronting reporters and public officials. He is a cable television and Internet personality who is now marketing his own brand of beer.

The Republican Party did not respond to a request for comment about its new candidate.

www.citizenkelly.com

www.williamjkelly.org