Chinese American voters are often treated as a single political bloc, but new data reveals a far more complex and consequential picture. A new report from Committee of 100’s partnership with NORC at the University of Chicago uncovers how Chinese Americans’ party affiliation is shaped by gender, birthplace, and how long they’ve lived in the United States. It also examines how Chinese American voters, and Asian Americans more broadly, supported—and rejected—their party’s candidates in the 2024 presidential election. What do these patterns reveal about where the electorate may be headed next?

Join Committee of 100 for the fourth installment of our State of Chinese Americans webinar series. In a roundtable discussion, Nathan Chan, Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Relations at Loyola Marymount University; Christine Chen, Founding Executive Director of APIAVote; and Lanhee Chen, policy expert at Stanford University, will examine what the findings reveal about Asian Americans’ evolving relationships with the two major parties — and why familiar assumptions about Chinese American voters may be leading campaigns and civic organizations astray.

This webinar is for anyone seeking to better understand the political diversity of Chinese American communities and Asian Americans more broadly. Civic engagement organizations, journalists, researchers, community leaders, and political practitioners will come away with new data findings, a more nuanced understanding of the forces shaping partisan identity and voting behavior, and timely insights for building more effective outreach, representation, and engagement heading into the 2026 midterm elections.

Nathan Chan
Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Relations, Loyola Marymount University

Nathan Chan is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Loyola Marymount University. He specializes in American Politics and Research Methods. He has published or has forthcoming journal articles in Perspectives on Politics, Political Behavior, and Political Research Quarterly among others and has featured his research in the Washington Post and the Brookings Institute. He teaches courses in race, ethnicity, and politics; political behavior; and empirical approaches in political science. He completed his undergraduate at UCLA and received his Ph.D. in political science at UC Irvine. Nathan is from Eagle Rock, a neighborhood in Northeast LA. In his spare time, he enjoys traveling, hiking, and concerts & live music.

Christin Chen
Executive Director, Asian Pacific Islander American Vote (APIAVote)

Christine Chen is a co-Founder and Executive Director of Asian Pacific Islander American Vote (APIAVote), the nation’s leading national, nonpartisan organization to engage, educate, and empower Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) to strengthen their voices and create impact. APIAVote’s mission is to work with local and state community based organizations (CBOs) to mobilize AAPI communities in electoral and civic engagement.

Since 2007, APIAVote has been building power in AAPI communities by investing in their capacity and infrastructure to mobilize voters. This investment, as well as proactively training and resourcing community leaders across the country, paid off in the 2020 election cycle and Census.

Chen has more than three decades of experience in organizing, mobilization, and advocacy. Under her leadership, APIAVote expanded its network to 29 states, secured the first direct address to AAPI voters by a presidential nominee, and helped lay the groundwork for record AAPI voter turnout in 2020.

Chen began her career in organizing and leadership roles at the Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA). She later founded Strategic Alliances USA, advising clients including Comcast, the Linsanity documentary, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

As Executive Director of OCA National from 2001 to 2006, Chen served on the executive committee of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. She was also a founding member of APIA Scholars and served on several nonprofit boards.

Chen is a member of the Committee of 100 and was named to Gold House’s A100 list in 2020 and 2024. A 2022 Resident Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics, she currently serves on the board of the Center for Asian American Media and the American Political Science Association’s Election Assistance and Policy Standing Committee. She previously served on the Kennedy Center Community Advisory Board.

Lanhee Chen
Policy expert, Stanford University

Lanhee J. Chen, Ph.D., is the David and Diane Steffy Fellow in American Public Policy Studies at the Hoover Institution and Director of Domestic Policy Studies and Lecturer in Stanford University’s Public Policy Program. His career spans politics, government, business, law, and academia.

Chen was the Republican candidate for California State Controller in 2022, earning more votes than any other Republican candidate nationwide and endorsements from every major California newspaper. He has advised four presidential campaigns and served as policy director, chief policy adviser, and senior strategist for the 2012 Romney-Ryan campaign. He also advised the National Republican Senatorial Committee during the 2014 and 2018 election cycles.

Chen is a Partner at Brunswick Group and a director of El Camino Health. He previously served on the bipartisan Social Security Advisory Board, held a senior position at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, practiced law at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, and advised and invested in early-stage companies.

His writing has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and The Washington Post. He contributes regularly to CNN Opinion and has appeared as a political analyst on major television networks. POLITICO recognized him among its “50 Politicos to Watch” in 2012 and the POLITICO 50 in 2015.

Chen earned his Ph.D., A.M., J.D. cum laude, and A.B. magna cum laude from Harvard University. He is a member of the State Bar of California and serves in leadership roles with several policy and nonprofit organizations. A native of Rowland Heights, California, he lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife and children.