6 January 9 - 15, 2025 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents running again, so we expected something as serious as this that she should have stepped down and let a special election happen.” The representative from Fort Worth isn’t the only politician who has received pleas to step down. After multiple lapses in speech were caught on camera, Sen. Mitch McCon- nell of Kentucky, 81, battled calls to retire. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, 84, the former speaker of the House, controversially announced her bid for reelection in 2023. Pelosi was an out- spoken champion for fellow Californian Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who, at 90, was the oldest member of the Senate upon her death in 2023. The debate involving elected officials’ ages reached a boiling point when President Joe Biden dropped his bid for reelection fol- lowing mass scrutiny in 2024. Frequent irregular speech patterns, bal- ance issues and failure to respond to ques- tioning brought heavy criticism surrounding the president’s age, so much so that his phy- sician released a five-page health memo at Biden’s request. “President Biden remains a healthy, vig- orous 80-year-old male, who is fit to suc- cessfully execute the duties of the Presidency,” said the memo from White House physician Dr. Kevin O’Connor. Immediately upon his Nov 5. election vic- tory, Donald Trump became the oldest pres- ident-elect in American history and will be 82 when he completes his second term. The advanced ages of the past two presidents caused experts to classify the American gov- ernment as a “gerontocracy,” a government with officials significantly older than most of their adult constituents. Pundits point out that the required re- tirement age for military officers is 65, argu- ing the commander in chief should be subject to similar limitations. Newly retired Utah Sen. Mitt Romney called for both Trump and Biden to drop the race in favor of younger candidates. “Oh, I think it’d be a great thing if both President Biden and former President Trump were to stand aside and let their re- spective party pick someone in the next gen- eration,” Romney said to reporters. Similarly, U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, a Demo- crat representing the Austin area, was the first sitting Democrat to call for Biden to abandon the presidential race, also citing the president’s age. Doggett, 78, first assumed office in 1995. A recent study from the Pew Research Center found 79% of Americans support maximum age limits for elected officials serving in the capital. North Dakota has started to take small steps toward addressing old age among of- fice holders. In 2024, the state passed a law that makes it illegal for representatives to run for office if they would turn 81 before the end of their term. Canada has enforced a retirement age of 75 for its senators since 1965. In Texas, state judges are the only elected officials with re- quired retirement ages. A proposal in 2023 aimed to increase that age from 75 to 79, but failed. State government officials are progres- sively getting older. The average age of Texas lawmakers during the 2021 session was 54; in 2023 it was 57. The Texas House of Representatives members’ average age is younger than the Senate by 6 years. The av- erage age for Texas senators is 60 and for representatives 54. Several older incumbents retired ahead of the 89th Legislative Session, but not all. Here are the oldest politicians representing Texans at the state and national levels in 2025: • U.S. Rep. John Carter, Republican, 83 • U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, Democrat, 78 • U.S. Rep. Brian Babin, Republican, 76 • State Rep. Tom Craddick, Republican,Midland, 81 • State Rep. John Bryant, Democrat , Dallas, 77 • State Rep. John Raney, Republican, College Station, 77 • State Sen. Bob Hall, Republican, Edgewood, 82 • State Sen. Robert Nichols, Republican, Jacksonville, 80 • State Sen. Judith Zaffirini, Republican, Laredo, 78 • State Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, Democrat, McAllen, 78 ▼ DALLAS NEWS THE WORST OF DALLAS 4 MOMENTS THAT EARNED OUR CITY’S ‘BUM STEER AWARD’ IN 2024. BY EMMA RUBY T hroughout 2024, Dallas felt like a city teetering between extremes. There were the deep playoff runs by the Stars and Mavericks that had us dis- cussing tandem victory parades before both teams’ seasons came to a halt in their respec- tive conference finals. There were the Dallas HERO charter amendments that inspired a rare wave of unity among city leaders rally- ing the opposition, only for the electorate to unify in favor of two of the three measures. Some things, though, skipped the teeter- ing and nosedived straight into bad. Jerry Jones and the Cowboys were beyond re- demption this year, earning the infamous team owner Texas Monthly’s Bum Steer dis- honor. The award is given annually to mark the worst of our state — the worst people, the worst ideas and the worst moments that left us questioning whether we really want to identify ourselves as Texans. And it goes without saying that this year nobody wanted to identify as a Cowboys fan. If Jones’ rant about knowing where the sun is wasn’t embarrassing enough, there was the viral clip of Dak Prescott reacting to a devastating loss to the Houston Texans. Discerning lip-readers were able to make out the quarterback dejectedly stating, “We f—ing suck.” Clearly, there’s no debate about Jones’ fitness for the statewide title, but the Ob- server contends that Dallas had several can- didates of our own worthy of some scorn. Here are four people, groups or moments in Dallas that were irredeemably bad in 2024. The Jake Paul – Mike Tyson Fight Bad things happen at AT&T Stadium, it seems. With more than a year of hype be- hind it, the professional boxing match be- tween Jake Paul and Mike Tyson had all eyes on North Texas. At first, the fight was un- comfortable to watch. Then, it was embar- rassing. Paul’s slow-motion stadium entrance set to Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight” (Get it? He’s been dreaming of this moment for all his life.) was gaudy and arrogant. Tyson’s deep-seated belief that his dominance tran- scended age was delusional. The match between former YouTuber Paul, 27, and former heavyweight champion Tyson, 58, was originally meant to take place in July, but an ulcer flare-up forced Tyson to delay the match. The extra months only lent themselves to even more marketing for the event. Sixty-five million people tuned in to the livestream, Netflix reports, but the streaming service was clearly unprepared to host such a massive event. In the hours-long lead-up to the fight, amateur camera work gave viewers a hearty look at Tyson’s bare rump, and broadcasters never seemed to find their footing when it came to calling the undercard fights. Relent- less buffering pauses plagued viewers, in- spiring a litany of frustrated hashtags to trend on X. For those with the strongest Wi- Fi who were able to avoid the buffer purga- tory, it became clear by Round 2 that this was not a match between champions. It was a boxing competition between a fit 20-something with ungodly amounts of money and an out-of-his-depth old man try- ing to relive his glory days. We can only watch an old guy get beat up for so long. Ap- parently, other states agreed. Several de- clined to host the fight because of the age difference between Paul and Tyson, and Texas agreed to allow it only after the match was shortened to eight, two-minute rounds instead of 10 or 12 three-minute ones. The entire fight — surrounded by mil- lions and millions of dollars worth of specta- cle — lasted less than 20 minutes. Arlington’s entertainment district is still plastered with posters of a steely-looking Paul — perhaps the only lasting evidence that the inconsequential fight ever occurred at all. The Search for a City Manager Dallas spent 10 months without a city man- ager — and for nine of them, no one seemed to care. When council members did start grumbling about who, exactly, is leading our city’s day-to-day functions, the process was revealed to be convoluted and opaque at best and mortifyingly flawed at worst. Former city manager T.C. Broadnax an- nounced his resignation on Feb. 21, and a slew of Dallas’ biggest wigs followed him south to Austin. Since February, Interim City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert has been steering the ship while the search firm Baker Tilly looked for Dallas’ next leader. Baker Tilly’s approach to the hunt has been lackluster, some city council members believe. In November the firm presented the council with four finalists for the role, but in a meeting earlier this month, council mem- bers were miffed that they were never shown the full stack of resumes for the job. When the entire list was released, Dallas Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Adam Bazaldua called it “embarrassing.” Baker Tilly then re- vealed that several top names were no lon- ger interested in Dallas thanks to the passage of two Dallas HERO amendments that city leaders believe will complicate pro- cesses at City Hall. As if the messy CEO search wasn’t bad enough, several council members attempted to circumvent the official process by calling a special meeting to interview candidates, including Tolbert. That meeting never achieved a quorum, further exposing the dysfunction haunting City Hall. Unfair Park from p4 Paul Morigi/Getty Images U.S. Representative John Carter of District 31 (near Kileen) turns 84 this year. >> p8 Courtesy of Netflix Jake Paul fights Mike Tyson at AT&T Stadium.
