As of Friday morning, with nearly 300,000 votes cast, Drudge’s online poll asking who won the sixth Republican primary debate shows Donald Trump in first place by a mile with 54.5% support. Ted Cruz lands in second with 31%,and Marco Rubio is in a distant third with just 7.5%

Chris Christie, John Kasich, Jeb Bush, and Ben Carson all hover around an embarrassing 2%.

Compared to previous Drudge debate polls (which have been early predictors of professional polls), both Trump and Cruz improved dramatically. Rubio, on the other hand, has slipped dramatically.

Third Debate

Trump 48%

Cruz 25%

Rubio 13%

Fourth Debate

Trump 35%

Cruz 24%

Rubio 14%

Fifth Debate

Trump 43%

Cruz 27%

Rubio 8%

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By most media accounts, Rubio had a strong debate performance but the actual voters seem to be much less into the Republican Senator. The race of the 2016 Republican standard-bearer is now between just two men — Cruz and Trump.

The Republican Establishment’s nightmare is now complete.

Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC