Democratic 2020 presidential candidate Andrew Yang is calling for a place in Tuesday's primary debate, saying polls show voters want him to participate even if they haven't committed to supporting him yet.

Yang, a former tech entrepreneur, did not meet polling thresholds to take part in the Iowa debate, the final one before the state's caucuses early next month.

He claims the lack of polls conducted since the previous debate gave little hope for him to advance.

Yang, the only candidate of color who made the last debate, unsuccessfully asked Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Tom Perez to commission more polling to make up for a lack of surveys over the holidays.

"If the DNC had only done their due diligence and commissioned polls in the early states, Andrew Yang would certainly be on the debate stage next week. We are not going to allow the DNC to dictate who they wish to see as the nominee and deny the will of the people," champaign chief Nick Ryan said in a Saturday email to supporters.

The email said that after the DNC refused Yang's request, he commissioned his own polling by companies the Democratic Party has used before.

"The unbiased feedback showed that Andrew Yang is on the rise and at 5% in Nevada and New Hampshire," the email said.

"The issues that will decide this election, and the future of our country, are too important to ignore for the sake of staged political bickering. The DNC tried to run this same play in 2016 and they paid for it with a loss in the general," Ryan said.

Six of the 13 Democratic White House candidates are set to take the stage in Ames, Iowa: former Vice President Joe Biden, former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), businessman Tom Steyer and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).