What a crucial battleground district in rust-belt Wisconsin tells us about the midterm elections

As a critical midterm election looms in the U.S., Wisconsin is still a state bitterly divided between the very conservative and the very liberal.

That's especially clear in Janesville, a rust belt city that's on the rebound after recession-grade financial devastation.

It's also the host of a local election with national implications. The House of Representatives seat formerly held for the last two decades by Republican favourite Paul Ryan is up for grabs, and the result could be a benchmark for where the U.S. is going politically.   

On either side of the spectrum stands two candidates, polar opposites in every way possible, in a tight race.  

On the Republican side is Bryan Steil, a 37-year-old third-generation lawyer, looking every inch the part — lean, handsome, teeth and hair approaching perfection, dressed in a high priced suit. He once worked as a staffer for Paul Ryan.

Randy Bryce, 54, is the Democratic candidate. Usually seen in a button-down and blue jeans, he spent most of his adult life as an ironworker and union organizer. His nickname, the Ironstache, refers both to his trade and his trademark moustache.

Steil is likely to win, but if Democrats have as big a night as some pollsters are predicting, and turn 40 or 50 seats from red to blue, the First District could switch hands. 

Click 'listen' above to hear "First Wisconsin." In the documentary, Ira Basen travels to Wisconsin, where he once went to graduate school, to take the political temperature of the state's first Congressional District.