I’ve lived in the Beloit area all my life and attended Beloit College in the mid-80s (thus making me a “Townie/Gownie,” as the campus affectionately tagged such people). I’ve been interested in politics since my late teenage years, especially the political scene in Chicago (to my South) and Madison (to the North). Election 2016 was really a politico’s dream, with a couple of polarizing candidates, who helped prove, once again, that America’s Dairyland plays an enormous role as a swing state. Interestingly enough, Wisconsin was decided by a razor-thin 22,000 votes—the same amount Green Party candidate, Jill Stein, got. I found it rather odd that Hillary Clinton decided not to visit Wisconsin once during the primaries, and I asked citizens to comment on this fact during interviews.

I started my journey at The Women’s March in Madison, where the atmosphere was predictably electric. The cast of characters (as with all the places in my film) was ideal for documentary filmmaking, both for their passion and intelligence. My goal was to strike a balance between left and right leaning views, as I continued through Beloit, Baraboo, Kenosha, Fond du Lac and Ripon (in the first film) to Janesville, Mauston, Friendship and Milwaukee (in the second). Both by way of research and travel, I discovered many things about a place I thought I knew much better. I hope you, too, learn a lot about my home state, as you listen to folks giving their take on the most interesting election of my lifetime. With the Democrats bringing their convention to Milwaukee in 2020, the interest can only continue to grow, and all eyes will be set on Wisconsin as one of a handful of important swing states.