Armando Montero has homework, a law degree to finish and, come January, constituents to represent.
The 25-year-old Arizona State University law student won a seat in the Arizona House of Representatives for Legislative District 12, bringing a Gen Z perspective and six years of school board experience to the Capitol.
His district includes south Tempe, Ahwatukee, west Chandler and the Gila River Indian Community. That makes this next chapter personal: He grew up in Ahwatukee and graduated from Desert Vista High School.
But his decision to seek state office wasn’t fueled by a sudden craving for campaign signs.
It came after a painful school board vote.
Montero says the Tempe Union High School District board had to cut nearly 60 full-time positions last year, a decision he attributes to persistent underfunding of public education.
“That was a really, really difficult decision to have to make,” he says.
The experience clarified the limits of local leadership. School boards had to make tough choices, but many of the conditions driving those choices originated at the Legislature. Montero decided to take his concerns directly to the source.
His public service began with another deeply personal experience. After losing a close friend to suicide in high school, he advocated for stronger student mental health services and social-emotional support. Voters elected him to the Tempe Union board in 2020, when he was 19, and reelected him in 2024.
Now, education funding and mental health remain central to his agenda, alongside affordable housing, health care and water.
“I think we’ve been given a pretty clear mandate,” Montero says of the November election results.
He says conversations at doors and on the phone repeatedly returned to those everyday concerns, cutting across generations.
Meanwhile, his own calendar requires some legislative maneuvering.
Montero earned bachelor’s degrees in political science, economics and mathematics at ASU before entering its Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law. He expects to graduate in May and has arranged his remaining coursework around legislative business, including Friday classes and online options.
Campaigning added another demanding layer. Montero says friends and family helped him through the isolation and long days of fundraising, events and knocking on doors, sometimes wrapping up around 10 p.m.
And Montero isn’t the only Sun Devil whose class schedule now includes public service. Sebastian Matta, 19, took an unexpected route into politics after an August 2025 online search revealed no Democrat was running for Maricopa County clerk of the Superior Court. The Phoenix-raised ASU philosophy student entered the race and defeated former state lawmaker Jeff Dial. Now preparing to become Arizona’s youngest Superior Court clerk, Matta plans to switch to part-time studies. He credits his coursework, particularly history classes, with strengthening his understanding of public service.
The son of immigrants from Venezuela and Argentina, Matta wants to expand multilingual court services, allow residents to initiate probate and estate matters online and improve community outreach. First on his agenda, however, is earning the confidence of experienced employees who know the office inside and out. Like Montero, he brings a younger generation’s perspective to public service — along with a college schedule that suddenly requires some serious rearranging.
Next come legislative sessions, courtroom responsibilities and college graduations. Apparently, one major life milestone at a time wasn’t ambitious enough. These two Sun Devils are rewriting the rules of public service before they’ve even finished school.
Insider Takeaways
- Meet your incoming representative: Montero will serve District 12 in the Arizona House beginning in January.
- Young, with experience: Montero first won election to the Tempe Union school board at 19.
- Watch their priorities: Montero is focused on education, mental health, housing, health care and water; Matta wants to improve court access and multilingual services.
- Know his motivation: A friend’s death prompted his student mental health advocacy; school staffing cuts helped spur his House run.
- Expect a packed spring: Montero plans to balance legislative duties with finishing law school in May.
