Many in the Airbnb community are casual users; Lehane divides them into “base voters,” the hosts, who are the more engaged but much smaller group, numbering just a few million; and “occasional voters,” the guests. But the company’s polling has shown that even the casual guest can be easily mobilized, and in certain markets as much as 5 to 15 percent of the general electorate uses Airbnb in some fashion. “If there’s one thing politicians can do, it’s math,” he says. “And that’s pretty compelling math.”
