Ronald James "Ron" Kind (born March 16, 1963) is the U.S. Representative for Wisconsin's 3rd congressional district, serving since 1997. He is a member of the Democratic Party. His district is located in the western portion of the state and is anchored by La Crosse and Eau Claire and Platteville.

Kind was born and raised in La Crosse. He is the third of five children born to Greta and Elroy Kind, and the fifth generation of his family to live in the area. Kind's mother formerly worked as the assistant director of personnel in the La Crosse School District. His father had a 35-year career as a telephone repairman and union leader at the La Crosse Telephone Company.

Kind attended the public schools in La Crosse and became a standout student athlete at Logan High School in both football and basketball. He accepted a scholarship to Harvard College where he graduated with honors in 1985. While attending Harvard, Kind played quarterback on the football team and worked during the summer with Wisconsin Senator William Proxmire in Washington. In Proxmire's office he helped investigate waste, which provided the basis for some of the senator's famous Golden Fleece Awards.

Edward Andrew "Ed" Schultz (born January 27, 1954) Is an American television and radio host, a liberal political commentator, and a former sports broadcaster. He is the host of The Ed Show, a daily news talk program on MSNBC, and The Ed Schultz Show, a talk radio show, nationally syndicated by Dial Global, promising "straight talk".

Schultz was born in Norfolk, Virginia, and grew up in the Larchmont area near Old Dominion University, the son of George (an engineer) and Mary (an English teacher). He graduated in 1972 from Maury High School in Norfolk. He moved to Minnesota to play football on a scholarship from Minnesota State University Moorhead. He made All-American and became the NAIA passing leader in 1977 and signed as a free agent with the Oakland Raiders. In 1979, Schultz tried out for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, a Canadian Football League team.

After his football career ended, he worked as a sportscaster in Fargo, North Dakota for two local stations, first KTHI-TV (now KVLY-TV) then from 1988 WDAY-TV. Schultz anchored nightly sports broadcasts at WDAY and starting in 1982 did radio play-by-play of North Dakota State University (NDSU) football games. Management asked Schultz to take some time off after an incident in which Schultz exited the broadcast booth to look for a North Dakota State fan who threw a beer bottle towards the booth.

Kevin James Barrett (born February 1959) is a former university lecturer and Muslim convert. He is a member of the Scientific Panel for the Investigation of 9/11 (SPINE), and is a founding member of the Muslim-Jewish-Christian Alliance (MUJCA), established October 30, 2004 with the stated aim of improving "interfaith dialogue, coexistence, and understanding" in light of the events of 9/11. Barrett first received national attention when he introduced Dr. David Ray Griffin at Griffin's lecture in April 2005, in Madison, Wisconsin to 450 people. The talk was shown on C-Span's Book TV.

In the fall of 2006, Barrett taught an introductory class called "Islam: Religion and Culture", an undergraduate course for which he had formerly been a teaching assistant. Before the semester began, it was reported that he planned to devote a week or two of the sixteen-week class to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack and the War on Terrorism. Controversy erupted when it became known Barrett was planning to discuss conspiracy theories in his lectures. An internal university review found that "although Mr. Barrett presented a variety of viewpoints, he had not discussed his personal opinions in the classroom" and that the department-approved syllabus, which included a section on the War on Terror, had been followed.