How a Chinese immigrant used WeChat to win a seat in the Maryland House of Delegates
Qi began her career with the county government as Leggett’s liaison to the Asian American community. She knew that about a third of Montgomery’s residents are foreign-born and 16 percent are Asian.
In addition to microtargeting Chinese Americans, Qi persuaded leaders of the Korean American and Vietnamese American communities to spread her message, registered people to vote at community events and arranged tea times to meet individually with prospective voters.
University of Maryland professor Janelle Wong, who has studied Asian American political engagement, followed Qi’s campaign, impressed that she drew hundreds of people to conversations on WeChat.
She said Qi, who raised nearly $150,000, did what many candidates don’t do: contact not-registered and avowedly nonpartisan voters directly with an appeal to change their behavior.
“She is able to communicate across multiple platforms,” Wong said. “It gave her some entree and appeal that few campaigns get . . . when targeting a non-English [speaking] population.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/how-a-chinese-immigrant-microtargeted-her-way-to-the-maryland-statehouse/2018/11/27/d404349a-e830-11e8-a939-9469f1166f9d_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.a584b95976dc