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A 19-year-old college student who plays video games with friends, listens to 1950s doo-wop music and lives with his parents is preparing to lead a county office with hundreds of employees after an unexpected election victory in Arizona.
Democrat Sebastian "Seb" Matta was elected Tuesday as the next clerk of the Superior Court in Maricopa County over 50-year-old Republican former state lawmaker Jeff Dial.
Tuesday's elections saw Democrats win control of both the House and Senate, as voters sent a stinging rebuke of President Donald Trump and his party. Democrats defeated Republicans across the map, flipping states that have been reliably red for decades and ones the president handily won in 2024 amid voters' frustration over high prices and the Iran war.
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The victory landed Matta on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, where Kimmel dubbed him "Boss Baby come to life" and compared him to a political version of television child prodigy Doogie Howser.
"I'm confident that I can do the duties of the job very well," Matta told Newsweek. "I've got a good group of people here preparing me for the job and the office that I'm going to take. I feel confident that I can do the job well."
The surreal sequence was highlighted by Dial's concession call, he said. "It was a very brief 30-second phone call while I was eating a bowl at Chipotle."
Newsweek reached out to Dial for comment.
Now, Matta is making plans to balance his college courses with a new $ 97,000-a-year job overseeing a public office with 600 employees in the nation's fourth-largest county.
Matta told Newsweek he's not the least bit nervous about the post.
How a Teenager Ended Up Winning Office
Matta's interest in the clerk's office began long before he could vote.
His father worked for a law firm and would sometimes bring his son along while filing documents for personal injury cases.
"I had learned about the clerk's office initially because my dad is a car crash investigator, and he would take me to the clerk's office as a part of his duties when he was filing for personal injury cases," Matta said.
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After turning 18, Matta began studying offices that would be on the ballot.
"I saw the clerk's office. I read a lot into it, and I was reminded of my time when I had experience about it. You know, experience, air quotes, as a kid," said Matta, now a sophomore at Arizona State University majoring in philosophy, law, politics and morality.
He spent nearly a year campaigning for the office.
"I've been working my butt off for 11 months trying to campaign and get elected," he said. "I've been to every single legislative district in Maricopa County. I've driven 25,000 miles in my car, six oil changes in."
The campaign also made his first vote a memorable one.
"It was very emotional," he said. "I teared up circling my own thing because it was just the culmination of 11 months of work."
His primary election happened to fall on his 19th birthday.
"My birthday party was going to vote with my friends," he said.
'I'm Not Just Any 19-Year-Old'
Much of the attention surrounding Matta's victory has centered on his age.
On Kimmel's show, the host joked that Maricopa County residents had essentially elected a teenager to run a significant public office. Matta laughed along, but said he understands why some people have questions.
Matta said a meme is circulating that makes light of his age.
"I look forward to proving to the voters that I can do what I promised," he told Newsweek.
One of his first priorities, he said, will be building relationships with employees.
The office has roughly 600 to 700 staff members, according to Matta, many of whom he has yet to meet.
"I understand that it's very scary to have a 19-year-old be your boss," he said during his television appearance. "But I'm not just any 19-year-old."
He says the reception from employees so far has been encouraging.
"A handful of them came up to me and shook my hand and thanked me and told me, 'Congratulations, Sebastian. We look forward to working with you,'" he told Newsweek. "The general mood at the clerk's office, from what they've reached out to me and tell me, is that they're excited."
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What He Wants to Change
Matta's campaign focused less on partisan politics and more on administrative improvements.
Among his top priorities is expanding language accessibility within the court system.
"A quarter of Maricopa County's residents speak a language other than English at home," he said.
He noted that the clerk's website only recently became available in multiple languages and said he wants to expand translation efforts further.
"I'd like to improve the self-help guides and put them in more languages," he said. "I'd like to make it so that probate cases like wills and estate law can be initiated over the internet."
The issue is personal for Matta, who describes himself as a proud Argentine American and speaks Spanish fluently.
"I'm very passionate about language," he said.
Matta said his victory was particularly emotional for his family. "My parents are, of course, immensely proud," he said. The election night celebration included something he had never witnessed before. "It was the first time I saw my dad cry," Matta said, adding that he "didn't even see my dad cry when Argentina won and lost the World Cup."
Still a Typical College Student
For all the attention, Matta still sounds a lot like a teenager.
He fences competitively under the Argentine flag, spends time fishing with friends and says a typical afternoon at Arizona State might involve video games in a friend's dorm room.
His musical tastes are less typical.
"I'm a big fan of '50s doo-wop music," he said, naming The Platters among his favorites.
He also admits to having what some might call old-fashioned tastes.
"I love wearing suits," Matta said. "I've got an arsenal of like seven of these suits."
His office décor plans reflect those interests.
He says he'd like a fountain-pen holder, a gavel given to him by his speech-and-debate teacher and a large map of Maricopa County's legislative districts inspired by the famous war room in Dr. Strangelove.
What's Next for Matta
Matta plans to remain enrolled at Arizona State while serving as clerk, shifting primarily to hybrid classes after taking office in January.
"I'm very committed to finishing my studies," he said. "That's paramount."
As for where his political future may lead, he declined to make predictions. He said his parents would like him to go to law school.
"I certainly couldn't tell you at the moment," he said. "Right now I'm focused on doing this job the best possible way that I can."
Then, sounding every bit like the college student he still is, he added:
"My future aspirations are a problem for Sebastian in four years who can drink," he told Kimmel.
Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Samantha Beech and Gray R. Thomas
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