WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Former Vice President Joe Biden received a commanding lead among the Democratic candidates seeking party nomination to fight President Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election.
An opinion poll by CNN was one of the first polls conducted since Biden announced his candidacy on April 25. The longtime Delaware senator joined a historically diverse field of 19 vying for Democratic nomination that includes fresh faces, businessmen, a record number of women, and candidates of color and Indian origin.
With the late entry of Biden ending months of speculation, the Democratic field of candidates have become crowded with names such as Kamala Harris, Tulsi Gabbard, Bernie Sanders, Kirsten Gillibrand, Amy Klobuchar and Elizabeth Warren.
On the other side, only one name has emerged so far to challenge Trump for the Republican nomination: former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld.
According to the latest CNN poll, 39 percent of voters who are Democrats or Democratic-leaning independents say they prefer Biden for the nomination. This is a 11 percent increase from the voters' choice for Biden the news outlet recorded in March.
Biden's lead in the Democratic primary field grew by 24 percentage points ahead of his nearest competitor, Sen. Bernie Sanders.
The veteran Senator from Vermont holds 15 percent support in the poll.
Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren is in third place with support from just 8 percent of voters.
Biden's surge in support solidifies his status as the front-runner within a week of entering the Opposition race to take on Trump next year.
And at his first official election campaign rally Monday, Biden gave a clear message of fighting the President more directly rather than his Democratic counterparts in the primary.
'If I'm going to be able to beat Donald Trump in 2020, it's going to happen here,' Biden told a packed crowd in Pittsburgh.
'Donald Trump is the only president who has decided not to represent the entire country. We need a president who will work for all Americans,' Biden said.
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