We got the best sign yet that Joe Biden could dominate the 2020 Democratic field

AP Photo/Keith Srakocic

Joe Biden is surging in three polls released Tuesday.

• Former Vice President and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden's support is surging by considerable margins in the week after the official launch of his campaign.
• Three polls from CNN, Quinnipiac University, and Morning Consult show 39%, 38%, and 36% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters preferring Biden as the nominee, respectively.
• Biden also has the strongest support among non-white voters of any other candidate and has considerably widened his lead over Sen. Bernie Sanders compared to March polling.
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Former Vice President and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden's support surged in the week after the official launch of his campaign, the strongest sign yet that he could be a formidable frontrunner.

Not only did Biden's support in April increase compared to March, but he also significantly widened his lead over the other Democratic candidates in the field - particularly his closest rival, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

And a CNN poll released Tuesday morning showed 39% of self-identified Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents identifying Biden as their first choice, an 11 percentage point increase compared to March, and 24 points higher than the 15% of Democrats who named Sanders as their first choice.

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Biden's support in Morning Consult's weekly survey spiked from 30% on April 21 to 36% on April 28, and in that same time frame, Sanders' support decreased slightly from 24% to 22%. Sanders had the second-highest performance in the Morning Consult survey, followed by Warren at 9% and Buttigieg at 8%.

A national Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday found that 38% of self-identified Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters named Biden as their first choice, giving him a 26 percentage point lead over the next highest-preforming Democrat, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who 12% of Democrats supported.

The Quinnipiac poll showed 11% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters supporting Sanders, and 10% favoring South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg.

Biden, who served as President Barack Obama's Vice President for eight years and a US Senator for 36 years, is drawing on his blue-collar roots and close ties to organized labor to directly challenge Trump in Rust Belt states he carried in 2016.

Read more: Joe Biden's entrance into the 2020 presidential race will cause a seismic shift. Here are the rival contenders that are in the most trouble.

The early polling data so far shows that Biden's strong performance is based on high levels of support among older and African-American voters, with 50% of non-white respondents to CNN's poll preferring Biden as the nominee compared to 14% who preferred Sanders.

Morning Consult's survey revealed a similar trend among black women, with 47% identifying Biden as their first choice and 18% choosing Sanders, The Hill pointed out on Tuesday.

While the early polling numbers are strong, the former vice president will still have to contend with some of the more controversial aspects of his record, and make the case for his candidacy in the largest and most diverse Democratic presidential primary field in recent history.