Elizaveta Tumanskaya-Basargina, having left her husband, moved with her son Grisha to her hometown of Somov on the Volga. Her appearance worried the Shchekoldin clan. In order to gain a foothold in power after the death of Margarita, the mayor of the city, the Shchekoldins nominate from their ranks a new candidate for the vacated post of mayor - Zinovy. It would seem that now they have nothing to worry about. The capital's PR man is doing everything to get residents to vote for Zyunya. But here Basargina enters the election fight. Lizaveta's meeting with the regional governor Lazarev turned out to be a truly decisive event for her. Firstly, she fell in love with Lazarev, and he reciprocated her feelings. And secondly, it was at his instigation that she began to run for mayor.