Feb. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Senator John Kerry has built leads of more than 20 percentage points over Senator John Edwards, his nearest competitor for the Democratic presidential nomination, in polls of voters in the three biggest states holding primary votes next Tuesday.

Kerry, of Massachusetts, leads Edwards, of North Carolina in surveys of Democrats in California, New York and Ohio, which are among 10 states where votes will be held on March 2. At stake are on that day are 1,151 to the Democratic National Convention in July, where the party's nominee to face President George W. Bush will be chosen.

American Research Group Inc. polls of likely voters shows Kerry leading Edwards 47 percent to 26 percent in Ohio and 54 percent to 21 percent in New York. A Los Angeles Times poll showed Kerry leading in California with 56 percent to Edwards's 24 percent.

Kerry was campaigning today in Ohio where he told workers at a plant that processes steel for companies including Ford Motor Co. that Bush has failed to enforce provisions of trade agreements, resulting in the loss of U.S. jobs.

``I don't want to be protectionist because I think that it's the wrong thing for America,'' Kerry said at the Cleveland plant. ``But I think what we have to do is be smart.''

Edwards was in California, where the Democrats will debate tomorrow night.

Kerry has won 18 of the 20 votes for the nomination held in the U.S. so far, including caucuses last night in Idaho and Hawaii and a primary in Utah. He is leading the Democratic nomination race with 727 delegates to 212 for Edwards, according to a count by Cable News Network. That includes some of the 802 party and elected officials known as super delegates who aren't bound by the results of primary voting.

A candidate needs 2,162 delegates to win the nomination.

To contact the reporters on this story: Jay Newton-Small in Struthers, Ohio, at jnewtonsmall@bloomberg.net William Roberts in Cleveland, Ohio, at wroberts@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: February 25, 2004 12:58 EST