Real estate magnate Donald Trump stood at the top of the CNN/ORC poll of registered Republican and Republican-leaning voters with 36 percent support.
Trump’s closest opponent is 20 points lower and these results showed a nine-point jump for the former reality television star since since the CNN/ORC poll in mid-October.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) polled at 16 percent, which is a 12-point jump for the freshman senator.
Retired surgeon Dr. Ben Carson dropped to third place with an eight-point decline to 14 percent. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) wasn’t far behind at 12 percent, a modest gain from the former CNN/ORC poll.
While other bottom-tier candidates have seen relatively similar numbers in this poll since late June, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has only seen a steady decline. In the late June poll, Bush led the crowded field at 17 percent. Now, he’s tied for sixth place with former technology executive Carly Fiorina at 3 percent.
The poll was conducted among 1,020 adults, 445 of whom were Republican or Republican-leaning registered voters, from Nov. 27 to Dec. 1 by landline and cell phone. The margin of error among Republican respondents was plus or minus 4.5 points.
