Christmas came early for poll thumper Donald Trump in the latest CNN/ORC poll published on Wednesday.
Trump polled at 39 percent, which represents a 3-point jump for the real estate magnate since the last poll taken at the end of November.
He’s followed by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) at 18 percent, which is only a 2-point jump for the freshman senator. This is the highest both men have polled thus far in the CNN/ORC poll.
Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) tied for third in support overall at 10 percent. This is a slight decline for both men.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie followed at 5 percent.
Trump also led among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents who watched the debate with 33 percent saying he did the best job in the Republican presidential debate on Dec. 15. Cruz again took second place at 28 percent. (Margin of error was plus or minus 6.5 percent.)
The poll was conducted among 438 registered voters who describe themselves as Republicans or Republican-leaning independents from Dec. 17-21 via telephone interviews. The margin of error was plus or minus 4.5 percent.
