Democrats see reaching Asian American voters as key part of Georgia runoff strategy

The college student grew up in Gwinnett County, which has seen Korean immigrants drive the growth of Asian Americans in the Atlanta suburbs.

Across the entire Atlanta metro area, the Asian American and Pacific Islander electorate has grown significantly in recent years -- mirroring the trend of the increasing and diversifying population across the state -- specifically in and around the capital city of Atlanta.

While AAPIs are a small share of the electorate in Georgia, the number of Asian American voters grew seven times as much as other racial and ethnic groups combined.

"I'm so happy to say it made a huge difference," said Stephanie Cho, executive director for Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta.

"I'm so proud to say we had over 30,000 new voters, Asian American voters, for the first time," Cho said.

Cho has spent years on the ground in Georgia, organizing the AAPI community on civil rights and voting issues on shoestring budgets, often in noodle shops where volunteers paid for events and fliers with their own money.

And I'm here to ask humbly for the support of Asian American voters to hear from the community to address questions in the community," Ossoff told CNN after the event.

And it's not just the candidates in the runoffs appealing to the Asian American community -- Andrew Yang, the former presidential candidate, is spending the next few weeks in Georgia to support Ossoff and Warnock.

Yang spoke at a meet-and-greet in Atlanta on Sunday with the Asian American Action Fund-Georgia Chapter and said the Senate runoffs in Georgia are crucial for the Asian American community "to continue our political awakening, an awakening that I believe has the potential to change the face of American politics."

After the event, Yang spoke with CNN about the role he believes the Asian American community plays in American politics and what he hopes to see in the future.

"Asian Americans are waking up to the fact that we can be the swing vote in swing states like Georgia and it's a thrill to be a part of that political awakening," Yang said.

Sam Park, who was the first Asian American Democrat elected to the state house in 2016, agreed with Nguyen and said getting Asian American voters to turnout requires a lot of legwork and investment.

"One of the primary concerns I've always had when it comes to organizing particularly older Asian American voters are the various barriers that exist, primarily language," Park said.

And so having an understanding of the barriers that certain voters may face, and then ensuring that your political operation and outreach program is sophisticated enough."

Park continued by saying it's crucial for these campaigns to invest in hiring Asian American organizers and bringing in community leaders who want to build upon the success they've seen in recent years by engaging the Asian American community.

Nguyen believes if candidates want to win a broad-based coalition, they need to go out and earn the votes of their district, just as she did in her own district.