Biden holds big lead over 2020 Democrats in two new national polls

White House hopeful Joe Biden holds big leads over the Democratic primary field in two national polls released Tuesday.

Emerson’s latest poll found the former vice president was the top choice of 33 percent of likely Democratic voters, 13 points ahead of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who placed second with 20 percent support.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) finished third in the survey at 14 percent support. 

{mosads}While Sanders gained 5 points since Emerson’s last survey, Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) fell 4 points to 11 percent.

The only other candidates above 3 percent were South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg at 6 percent and former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) at 4 percent.

Morning Consult’s weekly survey also found Biden as the top choice of voters at 33 percent, leading Sanders, who also placed second in this survey with 18 percent support, 15 points behind Biden. 

Warren at 13 percent and Harris at 12 percent were in a close race for third in this survey as well.

Buttigieg at 5 percent, O’Rourke at 3 percent and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) at 3 percent were the only other candidates above 2 percent.

The polls come just before 20 of the Democratic candidates are set to take the stage for the second primary debate, with 10 participating on Tuesday night and another 10 participating on Wednesday night.

The polls taken together show Biden recovering from a polling dip after the first presidential debate, where he was widely seen as having delivered an uneven performance.

Harris, whose questioning of Biden on federally mandated busing during the debate drew headlines, has fallen slightly but still gained from her predebate position.

Sanders also seems to have moved up in the weeks following the debate. 

Emerson surveyed 520 Democratic primary voters between July 27 and July 29, with a margin of error of 4.2 percentage points.

Morning Consult surveyed 16,959 registered voters who may vote in the primary between July 22 and July 28, with a margin of error of 1 percentage point.

A Hill-HarrisX poll released Tuesday has a similar distribution of the top four candidates’ support. 

This report was updated at 11:31 a.m.