DeSantis touts his blue-collar upbringing on the campaign trail, but it hasn't made a dent with working-class voters. Trump still reigns supreme among likely GOP primary voters, a new poll says.

Gov. DeSantis has sought to connect with middle-class Republicans through his own upbringing. But similar to other groups within the GOP, Trump romps.

• Ron DeSantis has sought to paint himself as a protector of middle-class values in the 2024 race.
• He has touted his family's blue-collar background and spoken of the culture shock he faced at Yale.
• But Trump retains a huge 65% to 9% edge over DeSantis among GOP voters making under $50,000, per a new Times/Siena College poll.

Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida wants you to think of him as an everyman.

He may have graduated from both Yale University and Harvard Law School, but before attending those elite institutions, he grew up in working-class family in Dunedin, Florida, where in high school he worked for as an electrician's assistant. He wants middle-class Republicans to think of him as their champion, emphasizing his push to reopen public schools and small businesses early in the pandemic.

But a new New York Times/Siena College poll illustrates DeSantis' daunting challenge in making inroads among working-class Republicans, as former President Donald Trump leads the governor among likely GOP voters making less than $50,000 by a 65% to 9% margin — a whopping 56-point advantage for the former president.

Even among GOP voters making over $100,000, which had previously been a brighter spot for DeSantis, he trailed Trump, albeit by a narrower 23 points (46%-23%).

Overall, Trump retains a sizable edge in the GOP primary, with 54% selecting the former president as their top choice, followed by DeSantis at 17%. Former Vice President Mike Pence, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, and former Gov. Nikki Haley of South Carolina are each sitting at 3% support among likely primary voters, with entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and former Gov. Chris Christie both at 2% support among likely voters.

So while DeSantis has struggled to cut into Trump's working-class support, he has also struggled to counter the former president in the GOP race as whole, despite most in the party believing that his entry into the presidential field would shake up the race and even potentially dislodge Trump from his longtime frontrunner status.

But as the Times/Siena College poll shows, Trump still appears to retain a majority of support despite numerous challengers in the race, and he holds sizable advantages in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina, the key early-voting states that will almost surely determine which candidate will have the momentum needed to capture the GOP nomination.