Michael Benjamin gifted his son a mixing deck one Christmas, but the present didn’t hold the youth’s interest.
But Dad took a shine to the gear, started advertising his services and booked his first wedding in Houston.
“It turned out absolutely great, and I’ve been … DJing ever since,” said Benjamin, who goes by the handle DJ Mike Sr.
This Tuesday, Mike Sr. will spend his morning outside a San Antonio polling place, spinning for voters.
“I want to start with something light, not too energetic,” the DJ said, adding that he’ll build toward high-energy tunes that never miss: Bruno Mars’ “24K Magic” and “Uptown Funk.”
Mike Sr. is one of the 2,000 DJs recruited by DJs at the Polls, a nonpartisan nonprofit that plans to put live music outside 5,000 polling places in 24 states on Election Day. Seventy-nine of those polling places are in the San Antonio area.
The initiative launched in Philadelphia during the 2008 election, when founder Anton Moore placed a DJ outside his neighborhood polling place. Moore, who previously worked in radio for iHeartMedia and at BET in New York, said the idea spread on social media, and the response was immediate: people wanted a DJ at their own polling places.
“No matter if you’re Democrat, Republican or independent, you get on that dance floor and shake your boogie,” Moore told the Current.
The focus is on neighborhoods with historically low turnout, including those with large populations of people of color, young people and first-time voters.
Moore said DJs have become an essential part of American gatherings, including block parties, family reunions and even baby showers, because they play “a pivotal role in getting people on the dance floor and setting a vibe and tone.”
DJs spinning as part of the initiative are told to stay neutral and steer clear of songs that could be construed as making political statements.
Moore and his team took DJs at the Polls national in 2022. He recruits DJs through contacts from his radio days, word of mouth, social media and text messages.
While the entertainment has drawn complaints from a fraction of poll workers, most welcome the tunes, Moore added.
“It makes the day go by fast, so they love it,” he said.
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