We all go back to where we belong, as they say. But for Jimmy Bauer, the hero of RE-ELECTION, that requires a massive do-over, and a major change in the life he’s lived for 30 years. In the 1990s, Jimmy won class president his first three years at Richardson High School…but in his fourth year, he was defeated by a fellow student, Manish Singh, throwing Jimmy’s trajectory out of whack. He dropped out a few credits short of getting his diploma, and ever since has been working in his dad’s seen-better-days memorabilia store. Meanwhile Manish went on to live the glorious life that Jimmy once dreamed of, becoming governor of Texas, with all the fans and beautiful wife that the teenage Jimmy thought would be his.

Now in his forties, Jimmy (writer/director/producer Adam Saunders, (DOTTY & SOUL) sees the commercials for the gubernatorial re-election campaign of Manish (Rizwan Manji, Shazam! Fury of the Gods, TV’s Peacemaker, Schitt’s Creek). Troubled by what he thinks was his lost three decades, Jimmy is weighing going back to high school to earn his missing credits and run for senior class president when his loving dad, Stan (comedy icon Tony Danza, TV’s Taxi, Who’s The Boss?) sees his son needing a gentle push and fires Jimmy from his memorabilia store job. Now re-enrolled at Richardson High, thanks to his tough-but-understanding sister Shawna (Patty Guggenheim, TV’s Twisted Metal), now the school principal, who’s told skeptical superintendent Donna (Kym Whitley, Happy Gilmore 2, TV’s The Bay) that this is all fine, Jimmy finds high school a bit…different. Social media has usurped class clubs; casual compliments to women are frowned upon; gender nonconformity is part of teenage life, whether accepted or not; and a positive attitude is not always a path to popularity.

Aiding Jimmy in his do-over is another student, Noa (Bex Taylor-Klaus, Dumplin’, TV’s Arrow), whose school life is filled with classmates taunting them for their non-binary gender expression, and Ama (Nathalie Kelley, TV’s The Vampire Diaries), who went to school with Jimmy and remembers him as someone whose kindness, humor, and energy brought everyone along on his ride — the opposite of Manish, who, as Ama reminds Jimmy, was a creature of politics even as a teenager. With the benefit of being a young-at-heart middle-aged guy, Jimmy turns his underdog status to his advantage and finds his own way while discovering that everyone can ride along on his journey of self-improvement, positivity, and empowerment… and that politics is about listening to others, not just yourself.

Saunders says that the origin story of RE-ELECTION has its roots in the details of real life.

“I grew up in Texas and I went to the actual Richardson High School which is also the name of the fictional high school where this story takes place — and I was the class president,” says Saunders. 

“I’ve always been interested in politics, and Texas politics has changed so much from when I grew up,” adds Saunders. “I’ve been a filmmaker in L.A. for the last 20 years, but I still love and have such a soft spot in my heart for my old friends and classmates and people I knew growing up in Dallas. There are thinly veiled references to our current political situation in RE-ELECTION, but it’s in a way that people anywhere might understand. The story is set in Texas, but it’s really a movie of the people.”

Says Danza, “One of the themes of this film is, you’ve got to get out there and live.”

“Adam’s script really spoke to me because it’s my favorite genre, a comedy with political overtones, like Alexander Payne’s Election — I love those kinds of movies,” says Manji. “But it also presents a version of something we all say to ourselves: ‘If only I had done this or gone there, can you imagine where I would be right now?’ But that way lies madness, right? You can’t live like that, otherwise you’re constantly trying to relive the past.”

“I hope people watch this film and spend a few hours laughing, but that they also realize that life is going to have setbacks, and you just have to find a way to pick yourself up and move on,” adds Manji. “It may take a while, but it’s never too late.”

Says Saunders, “The Thoreau line in the film that Jimmy and his dad Stan quote is important: ‘What a man thinks of himself, that is which determines his fate.’ It’s up to us to create our fate.

“I wanted to tell a story that was about empathy, as well as being a mainstream comedy sort of like Billy Madison meets Election, or the Rodney Dangerfield movie Back to School — and I love movies like Back to the Future, films about singular moments that can change our whole lives,” says Saunders. “I was trying to capture what made those movies special. And empathy truly is at the heart of it.”

RE-ELECTION opens in select theaters including New York on October 10, 2025. Opens in in Dallas and Atlanta on October 17th. For more information visit the film’s official website at ReElectionMovie.com.