← Election Series · Down-ballot coverage · Arizona
Endorses Dial
The race
This is a countywide, partisan race on the November 3, 2026 ballot. The verified roster is: Jeff Dial (Republican) and Sebastian "Seb" Maximiliano Matta (Democratic).
### What the office does
The Clerk of the Superior Court is the court's official recordkeeper and financial officer — a separately elected office, not a judgeship and not appointed by the judges. In practical terms, per the Clerk's own office and candidate descriptions of the office: it accepts and preserves filings for Superior Court cases; maintains case dockets and provides public access to court records; attends court sessions and records actions; receives, distributes, and preserves official court documents; collects and disburses court-ordered fees, fines, and victim restitution; provides family-support-related services; receives, manages, and stores evidence and exhibits; and issues marriage licenses and processes passport applications. The scale is not small: the office supports more than 160 judges and commissioners, serves a constituency of roughly 4.5 million people, and runs a budget of more than $60 million with a staff of approximately 670 — in one of the nation's largest county trial-court systems. Every divorce, probate, civil suit, and criminal case in Maricopa County passes through this office's counters and servers. If the record is wrong, lost, or slow, justice is wrong, lost, or slow with it.
### Why this race is on the 2026 ballot
This is a vacancy-cycle race. Elected Clerk Jeff Fine stepped down on April 2, 2025, to take a statewide role with the Arizona Supreme Court's Administrative Office of the Courts, per the Clerk's office announcement — he had announced his intention to step down in January of that year. Governor Katie Hobbs then appointed Judge Joseph Malka to serve as Clerk, and under A.R.S. § 16-230, appointees in this situation complete the remainder of the elected term only until the 2026 general election, per the Governor's appointment announcement. In other words, the appointed clerk was always a bridge to this vote. Neither Fine nor Malka is on the ballot; the voters now choose the clerk outright.
The candidates
Jeff Dial (Republican) is a former Arizona state representative (2011–2015) and state senator (2015–2017), per The Decent Ballot's compilation. In the Legislature he served on education, public safety, commerce, and technology committees and chaired the State Debt and Budget Reform Committee, per his campaign biography; he sponsored the bill that made Arizona one of the first states to let drivers show proof of insurance on a phone. Since leaving the Legislature nearly ten years ago, he has worked in business — helping run a multi-generation family company and later starting a small business with his wife — with, in his biography's words, three decades of experience managing operations, budgets, payroll, contracts, and regulatory compliance. He is an Army Reserve veteran, honorably discharged, and an Arizona State University graduate. His platform for the office: expand online filing and online access to court records ("You should not have to take a day off work or hire a lawyer to file a form"); run the $60 million-plus budget "the way he ran his own business: every dollar accounted for"; keep the Clerk independent of the judges while making the two work together; and strengthen staff retention. His stated standard: "uphold the law and follow the Constitution, not a personal agenda."
Sebastian "Seb" Maximiliano Matta (Democratic) is 19 years old, an Arizona State University philosophy student, and a first-time candidate, per The Decent Ballot's compilation and Arizona's Family reporting of his candidacy. He wants probate cases to be startable online, plans self-help guides, and proposes staff interpreters in languages such as Spanish, Urdu, and Haitian Creole, per The Decent Ballot. He is endorsed by the LD12, LD14, and LD27 Democratic clubs, per the same compilation. He has publicly answered critics who say he is too young to run, per his Arizona's Family interview segments.
Pros / Cons
- Dial — Pro: This is an administration job — budgets, payroll, records systems, regulatory compliance — and Dial is the only candidate who has ever administered anything at scale: a legislative career that included chairing a debt and budget reform committee, plus decades managing business operations. His platform is specific to the office's actual failures (filing access, budget accountability, staff turnover). Con: His legislative service ended nearly a decade ago after he lost a 2016 primary, and he has never worked inside a clerk's office or a court; the learning curve is real, even if the management record is.
- Matta — Pro: His access ideas — starting probate online, self-help guides, interpreter staff — aim at the real experience of ordinary people lost in a court bureaucracy, and a 19-year-old clearing the ballot hurdles has demonstrated genuine civic drive. Con: Drive is not administration. The office disburses court-ordered money, holds evidence, and keeps the legal record for 4.5 million people; his file contains no management, budget, or court experience of any kind, at any scale. On this record, the inexperience is not a bias against youth — it is the whole of the sourced file.
OUR CALL
Our call: endorse Jeff Dial (Republican).
Election administration is a value, not a chore: the clerk who keeps the record honestly, the filings accessible, and the money accounted for is where the rule of law touches ordinary people. The basis for this endorsement is stated and sourced — Dial has managed operations, budgets, payroll, and compliance for three decades, chaired the Legislature's debt and budget reform committee, and is running on keeping politics out of a records office ("Let's keep the Clerk's office boring," in his campaign's words). Matta's energy is commendable and his access ideas deserve a hearing — in a smaller office, after some years administering something. A $60 million fiduciary office for the nation's fourth-largest county court system is not a first job.
For the complete Election 2026 breakdown — every race, claim by claim — see the full coverage on our website.
Vote early. Research your candidates. Choose the best moderates, whatever their party — no extremism from either side. And encourage your friends and family to do the same.
Sources
- Maricopa County Elections, 2026 primary candidate statements of interest — Dial (Republican) and Matta (Democratic) filings for Clerk of the Superior Court
- Clerk of the Superior Court, Maricopa County, "Clerk of the Superior Court Steps Down" (Apr. 2025) — Fine's April 2 step-down to the Administrative Office of the Courts; the office as official record keeper and financial officer, ~650 personnel at the time, 160+ judicial officers — https://www.clerkofcourt.maricopa.gov/Home/Components/News/News/155/46?smview=index&toggle=allpast&alpha=Y&sortn=SDName&sortd=asc
- Governor Katie Hobbs appointment announcement (EIN Presswire, Apr. 2025) — Judge Joseph Malka appointed following Fine's departure; appointees serve under A.R.S. § 16-230 until the 2026 general election — https://www.einpresswire.com/article/802519691/governor-katie-hobbs-makes-appointments-to-pima-county-clerk-of-the-superior-court-and-the-maricopa-county-clerk-of-the-superior-court
- Jeff Dial campaign biography and platform (jeffdial.org) — legislative committees, business record, office duties list, ~670 staff and $60M+ budget figures, platform planks; a campaign source for his record claims, labeled as such — https://jeffdial.org/
- The Decent Ballot, Maricopa County 2026 guide — Dial's legislative years; Matta's age, student status, platform, and club endorsements, as compiled from cited sources (accessed October 25, 2026) — https://decentballot.com/maricopa-county-az/
Result pending. No verified call (Associated Press or official) as of November 4, 2026. This page will be updated when the race is called or certified. The original article above is unchanged.
AI-assisted article — but the sources are human, and the facts are very real.