Candidate for
Member, Democratic Party County Central Committee; San Francisco County; Assembly District 13

Ryan Clary is running for the San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee (DCCC) in the 13th Assembly District.

Ryan is a lifelong Democrat with 20 years of experience as a community organizer and HIV/health care advocate in San Francisco. He is running to help the DCCC focus on tasks necessary to ensure Democratic victory in November, 2010, including electing Jerry Brown as governor, re-electing Senator Boxer, and protecting Democratic majorities in Congress and the California State Legislature. He will bring his extensive experience designing grassroots advocacy strategies, building coalitions, organizing rallies and press conferences, and participating in political campaigns to strengthen and expand the DCCC's voter registration, outreach, and Get Out The Vote efforts.

Ryan has devoted his adult life to the fight against HIV/AIDS and to expand access to health care to the uninsured. As public policy director at Project Inform, a national HIV organization, he advocates at the national, state, and local levels for increased funding for HIV/AIDS care and treatment programs, expansion of Medicaid and Medicare, and recently played a significant role in ensuring protections for people with HIV in the recently passed landmark health care reform legislation. In 2003, Ryan received an award at the National ADAP Conference for his work securing increased funding for the AIDS Drug Assistance Program.

In the past few years, Ryan has expanded his advocacy efforts to include fighting hepatitis B and C, which impact 5 million Americans and kill 15,000 people per year. He serves on the steering committees of the National Viral Hepatitis Roundtable and the California Hepatitis Alliance and chairs the Public Policy Committee of the San Francisco Mayor's Hepatitis C Task Force.

Ryan has also been a leader in the San Francisco LGBT community. He was the main organizer of rallies and press conferences defending San Francisco's Equal Benefits Ordinance, served on the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club's Board for many years, and was an active volunteer in the No on 8 and LGBTs for Obama campaigns. Because of Ryan's longtime LGBT and HIV advocacy, he has been endorsed by the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club, Senator Mark Leno, former Senator Carole Migden, Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, and Supervisor Bevan Dufty.