“The significance of Andrew Yang is simply that he was the first one to run,” Van C. Tran, a sociologist and associate professor at the City University of New York's Graduate Center, said.

Janelle Wong, senior researcher at the data and civic engagement nonprofit AAPI Data, said seeing such images has been linked to “some positive effects on Asian American turnout in places where there is a critical mass of Asian American voters.” But a person’s race or ethnicity isn’t the only dimension of representation.

“What really matters with elections is ‘substantive representation’ and the degree to which a candidate, regardless of race, understands and fights for policies that will benefit group members,” Wong said.

Sara Sadhwani, also a senior researcher at AAPI Data, said that “a crude count of individuals of a minority background being elected to office falls short of communities feeling represented.” While Yang has won endorsements from major leaders of Asian descent in New York and national politics, including Rep. Grace Meng, D-N.Y., he’s also been met with heavy opposition from the community, including roughly 800 progressive Asian Americans who signed a letter rejecting his bid.

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