A law clerk from Sacramento has filed a statement of intent to run for Assemblyman Roger Niello's 5th District seat in 2010.

Jared B. Gaynor, 29, said he'd filed to run as a Democrat for the termed-out Niello's seat in two years because he needs to start working to now to raise money and be a viable candidate.

"I know the 5th has been Republican in the past, but I don't know that there's been a Democrat there who's so much in the center of the line," Gaynor said, saying he doesn't see a difference in government interference with either gun rights or a woman's right to choose an abortion.

Gaynor said he hasn't fully decided whether to run in Niello's (R-Fair Oaks) district or the neighboring 9th Assembly District now held by Assemblyman Dave Jones (D-Sacramento), who is also termed out in 2010.

Though Niello won re-election with 54.5 percent of the vote earlier this month, Gaynor said registration trends show a rise for Democrats and could put the district in play in two years.

Gaynor said he was motivated to get involved in politics by both the lack of action by Sacramento legislators and their lack of willingness to take a stand on Proposition 8, which Gaynor said he opposed.

"I don't think the federal or state constitution should be used to take away rights," he said.

"I'd thought about running for political office and it was always, ‘someday,' and a voice in my head said, ‘Someday could be now,'" he said.

A native of Lompoc, Gaynor has a bachelor's degree in microbiology with a minor in chemistry from California State University, Chico and a master's degree in microbiology from Colorado State University.

Last year, Gaynor received a law degree from McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento, and he now works as a law clerk at the office of Younger & Hennecke, LLP.

Gaynor said he has not previously held or run for public office.