Of all the unlikely headlines to emerge from Tuesday’s midtern elections, a 19-year-old Democrat defeating a former Republican state senator in Arizona has to rank pretty high.
Sebastian “Seb” Matta, who still lives with his parents, is now set to oversee the Superior Court clerk’s office in Maricopa County, the nation’s fourth-largest county.
And Thursday night, he made a surprise appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!
“It’s like Boss Baby come to life,” Kimmel joked as he introduced the Arizona State University student and newly elected Democrat.
“What possessed you to run for Superior Court clerk at 19 years old?” Kimmel asked. “Was it the glamour, the glitz of the job?”
“Boy, don’t you know it,” Matta replied.
Kimmel, who attended ASU himself, marveled at the contrast between his own teenage years and Matta’s.
“When I was your age in Phoenix, I was Krazy Gluing quarters to the ground at the mall,” he recalled.
“Been there, done that,” Matta shot back.
Matta confirmed that his new job comes with a $97,000 annual salary.
Asked whether he’d continue doing chores around his parents’ house after taking office, Matta suggested his new salary might change things.
“No, I figure with 97 grand, I can hire someone to do it.”
Kimmel later compared his guest to a political version of Doogie Howser, the precocious teenage doctor played by Neil Patrick Harris in the late-’80s and early-’90s sitcom.
“Do you even know who he was?” Kimmel asked.
“Can’t say. I was born in this century,” Matta replied, drawing applause.
As for whether he has aspirations for higher office, Matta isn’t thinking that far ahead.
“My future aspirations are a problem for Sebastian in four years, who can drink,” he said.
Watch Kimmel’s full interview with Matta below:
