Tanya Tsikanovsky's parents fled the Soviet Union as Jewish refugees in 1979. They came to America with nothing. They built a life. And they raised their daughter to understand that America is the best country on the planet.

Now she's watching California — the state she was born and raised in — pursue policies that she argues betray everything her parents came here for. California has spent $24 billion on homelessness since 2019. In the same period, homelessness increased by 30,000 people. That's $160,000 spent per homeless person — just to keep them homeless.

She's a lesbian who ran for city council in West Hollywood — one of the most LGBT-concentrated cities in America. She's a conservative in a city where that word barely exists. And she's not leaving.  Because someone has to stay and fight.