They were in elementary school when President Donald Trump was first elected. And now they're set to hold elected office themselves.
Two 19-year-olds won their respective midterm elections on Nov. 3 for seats at the local level: state representative and county clerk.
Both Democrats, they prevailed over veteran politicians in an election cycle now defined by a resounding repudiation
of Trump and the GOP.Daniel Darris-O'Connor, 19, of Billerica, Massachusetts, was elected state representative for the 22nd Middlesex district, unseating a longtime Republican incumbent.
In Arizona, 19-year-old Sebastian Matta won his race for Maricopa County Clerk of the Superior Court.
"I'm a full-time college student who just, you know, happens to be doing a side gig
running for office," Matta said in a Nov. 5 interviewon "Jimmy Kimmel Live."
Meet the newly-elected officials and other young candidates making history.
19-year-old Darris-O'Connor says he was mistaken for an intern
Darris-O'Connor, who unseated 16-year Republican incumbent Marc Lombardo, will be sworn in as state representative one day after his 20th birthday in January.
He told CBS News Boston that his interest in politics began when he was in seventh grade during the COVID-19 pandemic. After joining several local boards and committees, he was electedto the Billerica Select Board in 2025 as a high school senior.
Although his age is making headlines, Darris-O'Connor has said in interviewswith several local media outlets that his campaign wasn't focused on that. Still, it didn't come without some confusion on the campaign trail.
"Sometimes people thought I was the candidate's son. Some people thought that I was an intern with the campaign, but some of those lighthearted initial interactions led into substantive discussions about the campaign and the issues at stake," he told CBS News Boston.
A student at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, Darris-O'Connor told 7 News WHDH that he intends to serve his district full time after completing his international relations degree.
Sebastian Matta says he's 'not just an ordinary 19-year-old'
Sebastian Matta lives with his parents and took his opponents' concession call over a Chipotle bowl. But he says he's "not just an ordinary 19-year-old."
"It takes a certain caliber of 19-year-old to collect 4,063 signatures, to get on the ballot, to raise $20,000 from over nine different states, to go to all 25 or so legislative districts in Maricopa County and drive almost 30,000 miles doing that," he toldThe Arizona Republic, part of the USA TODAY Network.
Matta told The Republic that he decided to run for office after turning 18 in 2025. The Maricopa County Clerk role piqued his interest because he used to travel to the office with his father, an investigator for a law firm, to submit documents for personal injury cases.
"I saw that nobody on the Democratic side had submitted themselves to this office in nearly a decade," he said. "And I figured, 'You know, why not?'"
The teen ran against Republican Jeff Dial, a former state senator, for the seat that has not been held by Democrats for several decades.
Although Matta, a student at Arizona State University, told the Republic he thought his bid would be a "destined loss," he said he was "overwhelmed with happiness" when he won.
"I mean, this whole running for office thing has been a very much a day-by-day thing. And my future aspirations are a problem for Sebastian in four years who can drink," Matta told Kimmel.
Other Gen Z candidates making history
O'Connor and Matta aren't the only members of Gen Z who have stepped up for political office, or made history doing it.
Dawson Holle, a Republican North Dakota state representative, became the state's youngest elected lawmaker at age 18 in 2022. Now 22, he was reelected to another term on Nov. 3.
In New Hampshire, State Rep. Valerie McDonnell was also elected in 2022 at age 18. A Republican, she is the youngest person in state history to be elected to the office. While she is up for another term, McDonnell's race has yet to be called; with 99% of the vote in as of late Nov. 4, she is the seventh-top vote-getter in a race with nine winners, according to the Associated Press.
And in the national political landscape, this election cycle also produced a new youngest member of Congress. The title goes to Michael Alfonso, the son-in-law of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who won in Wisconsin's 7th Congressional District.
How old do you have to be to run for office?
Minimum age of candidacy depends on the office.
For U.S. Senate, officeholders must be at least 30 years old, while U.S. representatives have to be at least 25.
On the state-level, the age requirements vary. For the Massachusetts House and Maricopa County court clerk roles, candidates must be at least 18 years old.
Melina Khan is a national trending reporter for USA TODAY. Keep up with her on Instagram @bymelinakhan and TikTok @melina.khan2.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Meet the teens who won their midterm election races
