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Utah congressional candidate to become ‘DJ Legs’ at Pride Festival

Posted at 4:21 PM, Jun 01, 2018
and last updated 2018-06-01 20:19:12-04

SALT LAKE CITY -- Shireen Ghorbani jokingly describes herself as the "second-best Midwest wedding DJ you've ever heard."

The Democratic candidate for Utah's 2nd Congressional District has a side-gig where she's known as "DJ Legs." She said she got her start as a wedding DJ but also spins tunes at special events. Ghorbani will be performing a special set at this weekend's Utah Pride Festival.

"DJ Legs" aka Shireen Ghorbani. (Photo courtesy Shireen Ghorbani for Congress campaign)

"In jest and in truth I’m running on healthcare, clean air, more Cher!" she said Friday. "So there will be some Cher this year!"

Ghorbani spoke to FOX 13 as she finished her set list for her Sunday afternoon performance at the Utah Pride Festival. She started with Whitney Houston, dropped in some Miley Cyrus, pivoted to the Jackson Five, Rihanna and added some Salt-N-Pepa.

"I'm your classic hits girl," she said.

A number of Democratic politicians will be marching in Sunday's parade and it's not uncommon for them to court LGBTQ and allied voters at the festival itself. But Ghorbani may be the first political candidate to actually drop beats while attempting to earn votes.

"A lot of the concerns that I find are concerns in the LGBT community are concerns for many of us," she said. "Access to good jobs, things like affordable housing, access to healthcare and making sure kids in school are safe."

The Utah Pride Festival's entertainment coordinator, Hillary McDaniel, said this year's event has more local acts and she felt DJ Legs would be something fun for the crowd.

Shireen Ghorbani, the Democratic candidate for Utah's 2nd Congressional District, works on her set list on June 1, 2018. She'll be performing as "DJ Legs" at the Utah Pride Festival. (Photo by Ben Winslow, FOX 13 News)

"I think they’re going to see a whole other side of Shireen they’ve never seen," she said.

Ghorbani isn't the only politico with a side hustle. One of her opponents in the race, Republican incumbent Congressman Chris Stewart, is a best-selling author with 18 books to his name. (Sen. Orrin Hatch also writes his own music.)

Ghorbani said her campaign will be working the Pride festival to reach out to voters headed into November's election. She also offered to take requests during her set -- but she wants something from them.

"If people can prove they’ve registered a friend to vote, that I would let them request a song," she laughed.