Presidential candidate Andrew Yang in an interview with Hill.TV broadcast Thursday touted his campaign contest and rise in recent polling as two key signs of growing momentum for his campaign.

Yang's campaign reported earlier this week that it had received more than 450,000 entries for a contest to promote his "Freedom Dividend" proposal, but Yang said this number is now at more than 500,000.

"The message is catching on everywhere," Yang said, while discussing a recent poll that showed him beating Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) in the state she represents.

"Our national polling continues to rise and after the last debate, we had over 500,000 people sign up for the freedom dividend and they were all over the country," he added.

Yang has risen in the polls following last week's debate performance in Houston, where he urged Americans to enter a contest on his campaign website to become one of 10 families to win $1,000 a month for an entire year.

According to Emerson University poll released this week, Yang is leading Harris by 1 percentage point with 7 percent support in California among likely Democratic primary voters.

However, Yang still trails top-tier candidates by a wide margin on a national level.

A RealClearPolitics average showed Yang with 3 percent support, trailing front-runner Biden by more than 24 points and Warren by 15 points.

-Tess Bonn