Pei-te Lien is Professor of Political Science, affiliated with Asian American Studies, Feminist Studies, and Black Studies, at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She is an award-winning author, co-author, and co-editor of numerous publications on the political participation and representation of Asian and other nonwhite Americans.
Nicole Filler was an instructor at Highline College and is currently research coordinator at the Institute for Asian American Studies, University of Massachusetts, Boston.

• List of Figures and Tables


• Preface and Acknowledgements


• Chapter 1: Introduction


• Chapter 2: Gendered History of Immigration and Political Socialization in the Election of Asians


• Chapter 3: Evolution of the Electoral Landscape: Expanding Gender, Ethnic, and Geographic Horizons in Political Representation and Local Incorporation


• Chapter 4: Getting Connected and Elected with Political Parties


• Chapter 5: Advancing Justice: From Community Activism to Substantive and Symbolic Representation


• Chapter 6: Conclusion


• Appendices


• References

In Contesting the Last Frontier, Pei-te Lien and Nicole Filler examine the scope and significance of the rise of Asian Pacific Americans (APA) in US elective office over the past half-century. Drawing on an original dataset of APA electoral participation and in-depth interviews with elected officials, Lien and Filler take an unprecedented look at APA officials' trajectories to office, their divergent patterns of political socialization, the barriers and opportunities they face on the campaign trail, and how these elected officials enact their roles as representatives at local, state, and federal levels of government. Ambitious and comprehensive, Contesting the Last Frontier fills an important gap in American electoral history and uncovers the lived experiences of APA women and men on the campaign trail and in elective office.