You Could Be County Clerk, Or Sheriff!

You—yes, you—could be in elected office today. The median Defector reader is a smart and good-looking progressive with impeccable taste. What other qualifications do you really need? Had you thrown your hat in ahead of the blue wave, today you could be your state’s lieutenant governor. Hell, for that matter, maybe you are your state’s lieutenant governor. Have you checked your mail?

Consider the case of Sebastian Matta. Matta is a 19-year-old sophomore at Arizona State University. He has a 3.25 grade-point average, per the New York Times, and he lives at home with his parents. Starting in February, Matta will be the Superior Court Clerk of Maricopa County, which has a geographic area larger than New Jersey and a population larger than Oregon. Matta will lead a department that, according to Phoenix-area CBS affiliate KTVK, processes more than 16,000 documents per day and has an annual budget of $65 million. Matta will be the boss to some 670 veteran professional staff.

“I hope that they realize that I’m just not any 19-year-old,” said Matta, hoping to give confidence to the hundreds of people who will soon be working under him in an incredibly complex bureaucracy.