Donald Trump holds a nearly 25-point lead over closest challenger Ben Carson in a recent five-day rolling poll.

According to Reuters, Trump snares roughly 39 percent of the vote compared to just 15 percent for retired neurosurgeon Carson. Rounding out the top five in the Dec. 19 through Christmas Eve conducted poll are Texas Sena. Ted Cruz (12 percent), Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (9 percent) and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush (7 percent).

The news only gets more encouraging for Trump when those results are coupled with a new CNN/ORC poll that also finds himself lapping Cruz with 39 percent of the vote to his 18 percent. Carson and Rubio follow, each at 10 percent.

The CNN poll was conducted after the Republican debate hosted by the network and Facebook in Las Vegas on Dec. 15. Among those Republicans who say they watched, 33 percent found Trump did the best job in the debate, compared to 28 percent for Cruz and 13 percent for Rubio.

Trump Rising On Several Key Issues

The outspoken real estate mogul holds huge advantages over his challengers on such issues as who would best handle the economy (57 percent Trump, his next closest competitors are Cruz at 8 percent, Rubio at 7 percent, Carson at 6 percent and Bush at 5 percent), illegal immigration (55 percent trust Trump, followed by Cruz at 15 percent, Rubio at 10 percent), and ISIS (47 percent prefer Trump, 21 percent Cruz, 7 percent Bush and 6 percent Christie).

Education also remains a stark dividing line among GOP voters Republicans, with Trump registering 46 percent of that vote compared to just 6 percent for Rubio.

Cruz Strong Debate Performance Rewarded

There are signs Cruz's solid debate performance could be paying dividends, as he has gained on front-runner Trump on such issues as handling illegal immigration and ISIS, both a central focus of the debate's questions.

Meanwhile, Rubio and Carson faded on both issues.