California Assembly Speaker pro Tempore Kevin Mullin (right) was a DJ in college. Courtesy photo.

Politicians are people.

It’s true! Despite what you hear on social media and cable news, elected officials are people more or less like us. They like TV and movies, they have friends, and, yes, they like music. To learn more about that last one, we’re asking politicians about their tastes. First up, California Assembly Speaker pro Tempore Kevin Mullin.

This is the first part in an occasional series.

“The Assembly is a unique workplace, and there’s not much time to listen to music while I’m in the Capitol,” Assemblymember Mullin told us. But as with most jobs, there’s time on the commute: “I listen a lot when driving back and forth to the Capitol.”

“In my younger days, I was a mobile DJ and college radio station jock,” he told us. “I’ve always loved music. The long drive time between home and the Capitol gives me lots of time to listen to music.”

California Assembly Speaker pro Tempore Kevin Mullin at his State Capitol office in Sacramento.

His favorite band is U2, especially 1984’s The Unforgettable Fire, but his overall tastes are more diverse. “I wind up gravitating to songs from my DJ heyday: ’80s and ’90s dance, modern and classic rap and rock.”

In fact one of his favorite experiences in the Assembly involved musicians: “I was thrilled to attend the ceremony where Dr. Dre and producer Jimmy Iovine were inducted into the California Hall of Fame, a reminder of how much musical talent lives in California.”

So remember, the next time you see someone in the next lane on 680 cranking U2, you may have voted for him.

Follow editor Daniel J. Willis at Twitter.com/BayAreaData.